To Never Fight Alone
by ironfist456
Summary: True friendship is an unbreakable force. Without it, life would feel empty, even with all the riches of the world. A friend can drive one to do things they could never do alone. And save them when they're at the edge of the abyss. Lelouch/Harem. On hiatus until further notice.
1. The Stage is Set

Author's Ramble: Recently I've grown to love the complex storyline of the anime, Code Geass, this is a story about what might've happened had Lelouch had a close friend when his mother had died. And yes, it's a "Stay in Britannia" story too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass; if I did Lelouch wouldn't have suicidal tendencies. I mean really, why couldn't he have tried being the Emperor he could have been, if everything went to hell, well _then_ he could have started the Zero Requiem. And why not use a double, either way; _he_ did not need to die. But I'm probably missing something so just ignore this ranting of mine.

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"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."  
**- Lao Tsu**

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_**The Stage is Set**_

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**June 19, 2010 a.t.b. - 12:35 Hours**

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Lelouch vi Britannia wasn't angry, he was _furious_. Barely a day ago he'd found out his mother had been assassinated, only to learn his father hadn't done a thing about it, behaving as if he didn't even care and going as far as to even call off the investigation into the identity of the attackers. Well if his father wasn't going to do something, he was determined to lead the investigation himself.

Even at the young age of ten, Lelouch was shown to be exceptionally brilliant, at the age of ten his brother Schneizel was the only one he had yet to defeat at least once in his favorite game of chess. With his determination to find his mother's killers, he had no doubt he would succeed. Although most people would see such a thing as the arrogance of his youth, Lelouch had never been called ordinary.

And just as he was about to storm into the imperial throne room and confront his father he was suddenly grabbed from behind.

"Your Highness, please consider what you're about to do," he heard a girl speak as she held him from his goal. Pulling himself free and turning around, he found himself looking into a pair of concerned crimson eyes.

Cynthia Rou Tjarrd, probably the only friend he had who wasn't one of his relatives besides Milly Ashford. She was an oddity to say the least, her combination of deep crimson eyes and blonde hair giving her a unique appearance, even amongst Britannians.

The daughter of a baron and a year older than him, she probably shouldn't have even known the prince with her family's recently attained nobility. But when her father had been invited to the capital she had gotten separated from him when her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she'd wandered off on her own. Before she knew it she was lost in the gardens of the Aries Palace, soon encountering the young Prince and Princess vi Britannia. How she had gotten into the garden in the first place was left unasked and in the way that only children can became friends with each other almost immediately.

They'd had been playing for a couple of hours before anyone else noticed the strange girl hanging out with Marianne's children as well as the third princess, Euphemia. And with the news of Baron Rou Tjarrd missing little girl, it wasn't hard to figure out who she was. When learning about it, other members of the nobility were outraged that the daughter of such a minor noble was in the company of the royal family, even if Lelouch and Nunnally were considered the children of a commoner themselves.

All arguments were put to rest though when his mother had admitted about knowing their little arrangement from the beginning. She'd even gone as far as to say the prince could use all the female attention he could get, joking about the fact that Nunnally and Euphie fought for his attention whenever they were in the same room. The joke had brought a blush to both his and Cynthia's faces though, furthering his mother's enjoyment.

When one of the nobles had been foolish enough to continue the argument, she repeated an act that was still recalled in the court. After the meeting had been adjourned and the noble men and women were heading their separate ways, Marianne's renowned Ganymede surprisingly showed up on the front stairs of the court building, stopping right in front of the noble who had spoken out against her children, and like when she'd previously pulled the same stunt when one of the other royal consorts had been foolish enough to insult her children, the event cemented the idea in the minds of all nobles present. Don't mess with the vi Britannia siblings, not unless you wanted a trained Knightmare pilot after your tail, prepared to kill, and willing to do so with smile on her face, albeit a creepy one.

Since then, Cynthia was acknowledged as a friend of theirs by the guards and nobles alike, and while their other siblings stayed away from the "commoner", that similarity between themselves and her had only strengthened their friendship over the past many months. And now that said friend was in his way.

"Cynthia, what are you doing?"

"Prince Lelouch, you need to think about what you were just about to do. You're angry; you aren't thinking straight, you need to calm down."

"Calm down!" he yelled back, proving her point, "How am I supposed to calm down, my mother's dead, my father doesn't give a care, and Nunnally's…Nunnally, she's…"

Yet another reason he had to be grateful towards Cynthia for, she'd come earlier that day to play with them, unknowingly distancing them from the assassination by bringing them to the garden, he didn't want to imagine what would've happened had either one of them also been hit in the cross fire.

When they'd heard the gunshots they immediately ran to the lobby, finding their mother's body bloodied and full of holes on the stairs. Physically, his dearest sister was fine, but they were both deeply attached to their mother and her death came as a sharp blow. Nunnally was currently at home with Euphie, trying to console their sister who had barely stopped crying since the day before. It didn't stop the fact that even if his sister was fine, she had still been hurt, and badly, and for that he vowed that he would get revenge on those responsible. But his father had just prevented any of such events from taking place.

"She's going to be fine Lelouch, right now she needs her big brother, she needs _you_."

Sometime during their conversation Schneizel and Cornelia had shown up, without a word and only a brief glance, Cornelia knelt down and embraced him while Schneizel himself slipped into the throne room. From his shoulder Cynthia could see Cornelia giving her a thankful smile, and unknown to the both of them, the original fate of the Black Prince had been altered forever.

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Afterwards, Cornelia and Cynthia escorted him back to the Palace where he joined his sister and Euphemia in Nunnally's room. Schneizel promised to see what he could do about the situation in the court. Realizing the fault in his action, he was quick to apologize to Cynthia for yelling at her, to which she waved it off as he wasn't himself when he had. Seeing that everything was fine as the elder vi Britannia sibling took his place next to his currently sleeping sister, the two looked over at Euphemia who gave them a soft smile saying everything would be okay, although it wasn't hard to notice her own distress at the events that were happening. The two closed the door, giving the three some peace, they needed some time alone.

"So, what do you plan on doing now?" Cornelia asked the blonde eleven year old, receiving a curious glance.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that now that Marianne is… dead," Cornelia hesitated, having trouble accepted the idol she saw in the older woman really was gone, "I don't want to sound rude, Cynthia, but you can't stay here, if for no other reason than for Lelouch's and Nunnally's safety. You were only allowed here in the first place because of her counsel. With her gone, the other nobles are going to jump at the chance to get rid of you again. With their mother gone and neither Lelouch nor Nunnally being old enough to counter such an action, they'll probably succeed this time. Just look at what's happened to the Ashfords."

"What? But," Cynthia replied at the revelation, struggling to keep her own emotions from surfacing, "Why would they do that?"

"Because, this government runs on the Darwin system, and while originally their response had been from the outrage about the daughter of a minor noble in the company of royalty, I fear this time will just be their way to hurt Marianne's children."

"But that's, but that's horrible!" Cynthia cried out, disgusted that such people existed.

"Yes, but unfortunately, that dear Cynthia, is the world in which we live in," Cornelia answered with a bitter tone, "Now, once again, what do you plan on doing?"

Cynthia and Cornelia were wrapped in silence for the next few minutes as the younger of the two thought of her situation. Visibly steeling herself, she answered, "I guess I'll leave then, Lelouch and Nunnally are in trouble enough already, they don't need me to screw everything up for them even more."

"That," Cornelia responded, "Would probably be the best." She herself didn't want to see the little noble girl leave. She had grown attached to the little girl too, and she knew that it would just add insult to injury in the eyes of Lelouch and Nunnally who had just lost their mother, that they were about to their best friend too. Not to mention with the downfall of the Ashfords, her little brother and sister would literally be friendless. She was confused why her father wouldn't let her continue the investigation she'd started into Marianne's death, but she wouldn't let her siblings' sacrifice be in vain, one way or another. No child deserved such actions forced upon them at such a young age, and she made a personal vow to herself that even if it was against father's wishes, she'd do everything in her power to avenge their loss.

Schneizel would later make the comment to her that Cynthia had unknowingly saved their younger siblings. The court was in an uproar, and many enemies of the Lamperouges were taking the chance to get rid of the siblings. Through his own intervention he'd managed to save them. But their father hated anything weak, and unless Lelouch and Nunnally proved otherwise, Cornelia feared for their future.

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**June 20, 2010 a.t.b. - 13:06 Hours**

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Lelouch was confused; Cynthia had asked to meet him out in the gardens, and then run off for reasons unknown to him. So now here he was, in their usual meeting place, with no Cynthia in sight.

"Hey, Lulu."

Strike that, he turned around to greet his closest friend, only to see something he never thought he would. It was Cynthia alright, but the unshed tears in her eyes and bitter smile on her face were new concepts to him. As long as he'd known her, he'd never seen Cynthia cry, having one of the most positive personalities he knew, rivaling even Euphie's. She had been a big support to him and his sister in the few months they had known her, and she was in many ways their role model. Something was happening, and he wasn't going to like it, that much was obvious.

"I'm going to be leaving Lelouch," she continued.

"Oh, when are you going to be back?"

That question seemed to only visibly darken her spirit even more, "I'm not coming back, Lulu."

Sudden realization dawned on him when he realized what this meeting was all about, and why she had only wanted to meet with him. "No, Cynthia, not you too," he tried to deny as tears arose in his own eyes.

In an unspoken act of companionship, they both drew each other into a hug, probably for what they realized would be the last time for a least quite a while. "Don't worry Lulu, it's not forever, we'll see each other again." Of course, such a thing was hard to believe with the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I'm going to join the military," she continued, "You're a prince, Lelouch, and you're incredibly smart, there's no doubt in my mind that you'll be leading your own division one day like your other siblings, and if I work hard enough and get high enough into the ranks I might be able to join you, but for now I have to leave. Things are too unstable now that your mom's gone, and people are going to look for reasons to hurt you and Nunnally. You don't need someone who's just going to cause trouble for you."

Lelouch didn't answer, and while he wanted to deny her statement, he just responded by holding onto her tighter, hoping against hope that if he did so, she wouldn't leave. But they both knew it was a futile effort.

The next day, like she'd told him, she never showed up. And it would take a full week for him to finally accept that his friend was, in fact, gone. He'd be found sleeping in Nunnally's room that night, something as an act of assurance. The two of them would be alone for a while.

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**June 23, 2010 a.t.b. - 5:42 Hours**

**––––––**

A single private airline was preparing to leave, a solemn event that warranted no attention, and that was how Ruben Ashford had wanted it. With the death of Marianne the Flash, her supporters, the Ashfords, were banished from their positions in the nobility. Wanting to avoid any unnecessary conflicts, the Ashford noble had made a final request to have him and his family relocated in what was currently known as Japan. His son and his daughter-in-law were already on the plane, probably sleeping. His granddaughter stood next to him, wanting to join him as he took one final look at what was previously their home.

Both of the Ashfords were interrupted out of their thoughts though as an unknown limo pulled up the runway, stopping near them. Both of them were further surprised to see prince Lelouch and princess Nunnally exit the vehicle.

As they walked towards the previous head of the Ashford home, he asked, "Lelouch, what are you doing here, and Nunnally too?"

"I figured the least I could do for your support of my mother was to see you off and to wish you luck. Besides, Nunnally never got to say goodbye to Cynthia, and she refused to just let you guys go too," he answered with a smirk, but neither of them missed the subtle hint of depression and exhaustion in his voice. And Nunnally just mirrored his true thoughts on the subject, the little girl's sad expression spoke volumes.

Reuben, like most seniors, knew a moment when he saw one, and took his leave after a brief thank you for his consideration for both his family and his granddaughter.

While Cynthia could definitely claim to know the vi Britannia siblings better thanks to her frequent visits, Milly had known them longer thanks to the bond between Marianne and the Ashfords. Some had even speculated that if the young prince didn't marry his half-sister Euphemia, it would be the young Ashford heir. It was a cute rumor, but sometimes Reuben wondered if there might have been some truth to it.

"So I guess this is goodbye," Lelouch started, reaching his hand out for a handshake. He was speaking for both himself and his sister, the latter being too emotional to voice any of her own comments.

Milly, ever being the most forward of girls he knew, ignored the gesture, grabbing his shoulders to bringing him into a hug. "Take care of yourself," she answered, "And take good care of Nunnally, if anything happens to her, I'll hunt you down myself." That comment got a humorless laugh out of the prince and princess, all of them knowing how much he spoiled his little sister. "Promise me something Lelouch?" she continued once the joke had passed.

"Sure, anything."

"Visit us sometime in Japan, okay. I'm gonna miss you guys." Milly continued, separating from their hug, only to lean down and give the little girl one as well. Nunnally chose that moment to break down, returning the hug knowing it might be the last time she saw her friend.

Unlike the goodbyes of before, there were no tears besides that from his sister, Lelouch because he'd cried more than he could ever remember doing so in the past couple of days than the rest of his short life, and he wanted to regain some dignity as the prince he was supposed to be. Milly remained strong, because he had made a promise, and for as long as she had known him, Lelouch _always_ kept his promises.

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**June 25, 2010 a.t.b. - 15:29 Hours**

**––––––**

Marianne's funeral was a quiet affair. The only nobles willing to attend being Lelouch's siblings, Nunnally, Euphemia, Cornelia, Schneizel, Odysseus, and Clovis, and then a member of the old guard named Jeremiah Gottwald, the only member to have shown up. And besides the men assigned to lowering Marianne's coffin into her grave, there was no one else.

The weather had been a soft rain, suiting the lonely funeral. It was short and to the point, Lelouch holding onto a crying Nunnally as he gave some final words as he struggled to hold his own tears back, like with Milly, he thought he'd done enough crying, and right now his little sister needed her older brother to be strong for the both of them. Meanwhile cursing his father and those who'd reduced his sister to such a state, swearing revenge on them and Britannia on his mother's grave.

After the small service Lelouch and Jeremiah followed behind the group, Nunnally being escorted ahead of them by her two half-sisters.

"I'm sorry for your loss your Highness," Jeremiah initiated.

"Don't worry about it, it's in the past, and we must move on," Lelouch replied, "Jeremiah, why are you here? I know you were a member of mother's personal guard but I can see no one else of the royal guard decided to attend."

The former guard grimaced, ashamed at the behavior of his fellow men, "I'm sorry, your Highness, they did not wish to attend, and I cannot say why. But I assure you that my loyalty remains with Lady Marianne, and through that, yourself, my prince."

Jeremiah was a proud and dedicated man, loyal to a fault, and as such blamed the death of his charge on himself, even if he had been following orders and therefore nowhere near the incident. Lelouch already knew this, one of the first things he had done was look into the movements of the guard, only to come to a dead end when he found Marianne had ordered Cornelia to withdrawal with all members of her personal guard, she'd been expecting someone, whether or not they were the ones who killed her was the question. Unfortunately, he had only a few suspicions, and they seemed farther and farther from the truth as he slowly received information.

"Thank you, Jeremiah Gottwald," Lelouch began, then with a sigh he continued, "I hope you can forgive me, but I cannot give you my trust for right now. You will receive your chance to prove yourself to me in time, but for now my sister and I have lost much. I can't afford for her to be betrayed again. I hope you can understand."

Jeremiah seemed disappointed at being refused by the prince, but in his eyes was also understanding, and determination. "Then at least allow me to continue my duties as your guard, my liege," he asked, deciding to cut his losses.

"That, I think I can do."

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**August 12, 2011 a.t.b. - 22:47 Hours**

**––––**

"Cornelia, what are you doing?" Lelouch asked as he leaned over his sister's shoulder from behind the couch she was currently sitting in, looking at the assorted maps and documents spread on the table in front of her.

"Going over battle plans, Lelouch. Want to help?" Cornelia informed, she didn't really expect him to be a help at all, but she understood the curiosity of a child, and she enjoyed the company of her siblings.

"Sure," Lelouch answered as he took a seat beside her, the elder sibling wrapping her arms around her little brother, enveloping him in a hug from behind as she pulled him onto her lap and rested her head on top of his. The young prince didn't react much to the gesture, just getting more comfortable in his sister's hold. He'd long since grown accustomed to the signs of affection from his sisters.

"What is it?" he asked, failing to have figured out the meaning of the assorted papers.

"An attack plan on the EU, Schneizel will be opening another front on France, while I'll be leading a diversionary attack from the front in Spain. Now I have to figure how I'll get their attention without leading the men to slaughter." Most parents would be disappointed in an older sister discussing war with her eleven-year-old brother, but Cornelia was a commander, she didn't care about such things.

"Well, why not use Special Forces? Disable or destroy hard points to make your advance easier. Then again, the pincer formation has always proved effective throughout history. Divide your forces in two and capture their frontlines in an ambush," Lelouch listed off suggestions.

"What? Lelouch?" Now that had caught the Witch of Britannia off guard. While she knew of her brother's love for strategy like Schneizel before him, the fact that he was making real battle plans surprised her. They weren't half-bad either.

"You could also fake a retreat, lead them into a false sense of security before ambushing them. Using someone's ego against them works really well against Britannian nobility."

"Lelouch!" Cornelia exclaimed, stopping her brother's train of thought before asking in a quieter tone, "Where is all of this coming from?"

"I've been studying," he explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I've been reading books and using chess pieces to reenact the battles, it actually makes a lot of sense, and using human factors like overconfidence, pride and ego to your advantage can always lead to your victory."

"Lelouch," Cornelia started in a delicate tone, "Why are you trying to learn all this. You're still a child; you should be having fun outside with Euphie and Nunnally."

"I know," he answered, "And I do have fun, we played in the gardens today. But that doesn't mean I can't learn, does it? One day I'm going to lead an army just like you and Schneizel. I need to be ready."

"Ready for what?" she asked with a questioning look directed at the boy in her arms.

"For my war with Britannia."

Of all the responses she'd been expecting, treason wasn't one of them. "Lelouch!" she exclaimed, her voice suddenly switching to that of a scolding tone, "Don't talk like that, it'll get you hurt, or worse."

"But Cornelia, I'm serious," Lelouch explained as he faced the maps, turning his head away from her, she could notice his fists clenching in his lap, his expression that of enmity, he really was serious about this, "Britannia killed my mother and took away my friends. And don't you see them Cornelia, the numbers I mean, Nunnally and I took a trip to Japan a couple of months ago. We were visiting Milly, and we met the Japanese prime minister, we even became friends with his son after a while. We also met a bunch of other people, and they weren't really any different than we are in some ways."

"But then we beat them in a war, call them Elevens, what makes them any different than us? Because we had Knightmares and they didn't. Where's the reason in that. We should be working with them, helping them rebuild, that's how you get people's loyalty. But father's policies on Darwinism deem them weak just because we have better technology than they do. Not to mention Nunnally and I were almost thrown away ourselves if you and the others hadn't helped. I won't put Nunnally in a position like that again. She deserves the best, and if I have to fight father to do so, then so be it."

To say Cornelia was shocked would be an understatement if there ever was one. Not only was Lelouch giving out reasons, but he was reasoning like an _adult_. Had Marianne's death really change him this much? And what took her so long to notice? He was _eleven_, his biggest worry in life should be that of "what's for dinner?", and here he was planning a rebellion against his own _country._

The worst part was that she couldn't argue with _any _of it. She also found their government to be corrupt, but she didn't have any thoughts of _rebellion_. She suddenly felt a lot worse of her prejudice views on the numbers. Her brother was right about one thing, they were people. Men, women, children just like the people of Britannia, oppressed for the simple reason that they couldn't defend themselves.

Then he had to bring up the events following his mother's death. There were still a few nobles who tried to get rid of them, and these two were her precious brother and sister, their father willing to dispose of them for just being _children_. Oh, she had such a headache coming.

"Lelouch," she asked, "Have you talked to anyone about this?"

"No one except Jeremiah and Nunnally," he answered, having calmed down from his rant on his mother country.

Cornelia smirked; Lelouch had accepted the guard's request to serve him after an event where a noble had the guile to insult Nunnally in court. Jeremiah had turned a gun on the man in an alleyway after the meeting. He'd proven he was willing to commit treason in order to protect his prince's and princess' honor, and Lelouch had been impressed when he had heard the news. The event had been downplayed as to protect the man, and on October 23, 2010 a.t.b. Jeremiah Gottwald was decreed Lelouch's first royal knight in court.

Since then the knight hadn't left his prince's side, the only time being where he was ordered to watch over Nunnally instead. Anyone could see he was his chief advisor and informant, so it didn't surprise her that he had been the only one Lelouch had besides his sister. Nunnally had been a give in, the two kept no secrets from each other.

"Promise me, Lelouch," she instructed, "Promise me you will not tell anyone else about this plan of yours, not even Euphie."

"I promise," Lelouch stated, whatever her reasons were for asking, he trusted them. She was his sister after all.

Cornelia inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. She'd just avoided a bullet. Perhaps with time Lelouch would grow out of his fantasies of revenge, or at least, she hoped. But she couldn't help but think…

If he went through with his plan, would she support him?

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Author's Signoff: As it says in the description, this is a Lelouch/Harem fic. Why? Well after the ending of the original, I think it's safe to say he more than deserves it. Current girls I'm positive in including would be CC, Kallen, Milly, Shirley, and probably my OC Cynthia too. But as a subtle hint, when it comes to the Code Geass universe at least, I don't necessarily look down on incest. Besides, LuluNuna has its own cuteness about it at times.

And yes, Cynthia will be the only OC character in this story that may make it in the harem. Why? Well, truth is she's actually my favorite character in one of my favorite Japanese visual novels, and I read a lot of these. Unfortunately I couldn't find myself able to write her character right and that's what makes her an OC, so… anyone want to take a guess at who her character is, digital cookie to anyone who guesses right. Hint: Her real last name begins with an "M" and the company that made the visual novel is named after a month of the year.

Anyone have ideas of a Geass you'd like to see. No promises, but it'd be nice to have a list in case I plan on ever including such. After all, like Lelouch described in the anime, a Geass also reflects the desires of its wielder.

I added the scene with Cornelia for several reasons. One, I wanted a more realistic approach to Jeremiah becoming his knight. Two, I wanted to have an explanation of Lelouch's knack for strategy. Having a natural instinct for such things is one thing, but you still need at least some base knowledge, and I'd like to imagine Lelouch was self-taught. Three, I wanted to establish that despite his staying in Britannia, he did make Japanese contact. Four, I wanted to further explain his reasons for his rebellion for later in the story. Five, I just wanted to screw with Cornelia's mind as he said that. And six, maybe develop loyalties that he'll use later… And the Lelouch/Cornelia moment was just an added bonus.

And like all writers I like reviews, so yeah, this is where a give a big list of things you could review about, so anyone else you'd like to see in the harem? Predictions of what'll happen in the future? How's this beginning going to affect the future? What did you like about the story so far? Dislike? Should I include lemons in this story, or at least attempt writing them?

Finally, I'm looking for a beta, so if anyone's willing to volunteer or has any suggestions, please send me a PM.

See Ya!


	2. Pendragon Military Academy

Author's Ramble: Ok, thanks to those of you who reviewed, appreciate it. New members of the harem include Euphie, Kaguya, Anya, and Mariel Labie, from the manga, Suzaku of the Counterattack.

This is by no means final people, these were character I had originally intended for the harem, just wanted to make sure no one had a problem, and by the reviews I got, it doesn't look like it. Now, on with the story…

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass; if I did Nunnally would have played a much larger role than the damsel in distress that she played in the anime.

Signs of Speech:

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

~Radio Transmissions~

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"We must remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school."  
**- Thucydides, "History of the Peloponnesian War"**

**

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_**Pendragon Military Academy**_

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**September 1, 2013 a.t.b. - 9:33 Hours**

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"Lulu!"

Lelouch was startled out of his staring contest with the Academy's entrance as he was suddenly tackled from the side, the only warning he received being a flash of blonde hair beforehand. Of course, that was the only indication he needed to know who it was.

"Cynthia! It's great to see you," Lelouch replied, returning the hug from his position beneath her. Not exactly the worst scenario he could imagine, and with Nunnally and Euphemia as his sisters such things tended to happen to him a _lot_. Beside them, Jeremiah chuckled at the scene displayed and the rather suggestive position both teens were in, not that either cared through the joy of their reunion, before walking away with the intent of attending to some personal business, leaving his prince in the company of his friend.

"The years seem to have been good to you, Cynthia." And indeed, once he got back on his feet and got a good look at his childhood friend, he noticed the years had been in fact _very _good to her. While her ever shining waist length blonde hair tied into a ponytail with a black bow and signature vermillion eyes had remained the same, the rest of her had certainly changed since the time of their parting.

Dressed in a form-fitting black jumpsuit with golden embroidery that ended up showing a lot of leg, with it there was also a red belt around her waist that matched her eyes. She also had a long white cape around her shoulders that reached just below her knees, giving her a sort of priestess appearance if he didn't know better. And with white thigh-length socks, and black combat boots, the only thing that remained of the girl from his memories was the silver eagle necklace her mother had given her which he could never remember seeing her without. Of course, the new wardrobe wasn't the only thing that had changed, curves filling in the right places through the evolutions of puberty.

"Lelouch?"

Awoken from his admittedly perverted stare, his eyes quickly rose to where they were supposed to be, only to be met with a devious smirk when he realized he'd been caught staring. _'Oh yeah,'_ he thought, as he saw the face that would most certainly spell his doom over the next couple of years, _'This is definitely going to be an interesting year.'_

"Pervert."

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The next hour was spent with Cynthia giving Lelouch a tour of the campus, having changed into a more comfortable white blouse and red skirt. Jeremiah rejoined with them shortly with his unnamed duties finished, following silently while looking for any threats to his prince's life, not that he expected any in a _Britannian_ Military Academy.

"Hey Cynthia, who's your friend?" a female voice asked, breaking up her description of the cafeteria and what foods were both edible and inhumane.

"Hey Mariel," Cynthia returned the greeting, acknowledging that she did indeed know the girl with shoulder length dark blue hair. "This is my childhood friend I was talking about before, Lelouch vi Britannia and his knight, Jeremiah Gottwald."

Mariel just laughed, "No way, when you told me you personally knew the Black Prince, I thought you were just kidding. But I guess with the evidence right in front of me, I guess you really were telling the truth. It's a pleasure to meet you, your highness."

Cynthia just answered with a pout on her lips, insulted that the girl would ever think she would lie about such a thing. Unfortunately the action didn't receive the desired effect, her expression looking cuter than anything else. Turning to who he assumed was one of Cynthia's friends he answered, "Please, call me Lelouch, I hate all that nobleman stuff, any friend of Cynthia's is a friend of mine. And you are?"

"Mariel Labie, daughter of Leonard Labie."

"Oh really," Lelouch said with a grin directed over at his friend. He'd already said it once but yep, this was definitely going to be interesting.

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Most anyone who knew anything about Knightmares knew about Leonard Labie, mentor to the ever famous Earl of Pudding, Lloyd Asplund. Over the years the two had split up, both wanting to pursue different paths. Lloyd was tinkering on the top secret Camelot project, while Leonard had followed a more safe path, developing the life and technical systems of the modern Knightmare, devoted to saving the life of the pilot and making it easier to pilot Knightmares for soldiers who didn't have an IQ that rivaled that of the genius that was Lloyd, which was pretty much everyone.

Mariel didn't fall too far from tree, inheriting the same intelligence of her father. Despite being only a year older than him, she was already four years ahead of him in school, expecting to graduate that year, and still the top of her class, Cynthia only being a year behind that. Unlike what many believed though, she didn't intend to join her father; instead she planned to follow after her father's first and only known student, aiming to become an apprentice to the Earl of Pudding. Something her father fully gave support of, to which she was eternally grateful for.

It was no question why she and Cynthia had become friends. While Lelouch easily outsmarted his friend when it came to strategy and politics, he never stood a chance when math or physics were involved, not meaning he was stupid, just that while he was above average in such topics, she went above and beyond the call. One of his memories he recalled of their childhood being Cynthia giving him and Nunnally a step by step procedure of how the Knightmare's Sakuradite energy system worked. He hadn't understood a word of it, but he remembered the excitement she'd been in when she'd gotten her hands on the blueprints.

"Hey Cynthia," Lelouch asked, "How are Wreath and Fiacca doing?"

She smiled at the mention of her sisters, "They're doing great, giving dad some issues, but that's what little girls do, right?"

Fiacca and Wreathlit Rou Tjarrd, nicknamed Wreath, were Cynthia's twin little sisters, the only difference between them being Fiacca's red eyes she had inherited from their mother, and Wreath's green eyes she'd inherited from their father. The two were incredibly shy, the only thing Lelouch knew about them himself was that Fiacca took command of the two, and Wreath's apparent love for anything that involved cats, she even wore a black hat that reminded him of cat ears. Of course, while he didn't know much about them, he did know Cynthia cared for them just as much as he cared for his own sister.

"I noticed you were in a Knightmare pilot's jumpsuit before Cynthia, something going on?" Lelouch asked, changing the subject.

Cynthia and Mariel looked at each other, Cynthia giving a brief nod before the two faced him with grins on their faces. "Actually Lelouch," she began, "It'd probably be better that we show you." From there they led him and Jeremiah to a large blue shed near the edge of school grounds, where supposedly, was where they worked on this project of theirs.

––––––

Lelouch stared up at the modified RPI-11 Glasgow, a summer project for the girls and the current mass-produced Knightmare of the Holy Britannian Empire, although he heard the new Sutherland was quickly taking its place, and yet another new close combat Knightmare Frame was entering in the works, one thing was for sure, the Britannian scientists were working their behinds off.

Renamed by Cynthia and Mariel as the Glasgow SX-02 Type 1, he asked why such a long name, only to receive the response that Cynthia had lost the previous Glasgow Sutherland Series-01 in the arena last year, and that this was the first of many modifications.

At first glance, it didn't look much different than a white Glasgow, only to be told that the difference was that besides the obvious custom paintjob, it held many of the same features of the newer Sutherland, which made sense to him since the Academy only provided Glasgows to those students who couldn't afford custom Knightmares. Doing so would at least give them a fighting chance whenever they fought against children of higher noble birth and could therefore afford such conveniences. Neither girls were anything near poor, but Knightmares were expensive, and as Cynthia had said it, "It's more fun this way."

Retrofitted with multiple Sakuradite power sources instead of the main Yggdrasil Drive found in the modern Knightmare, how they got their hands on such things he preferred not to ask. But he had to admit that the modification, while making it harder to control, also gave the machine a faster response time. Its armament contained that of the average Sutherland, the girls giving their little creation all the works: Stun Tonfas, Assault Rifle, Chaos Mines, and the ever-so-popular Slash Harkens. What they were working on though would make it even better, accelerated rate-of-fire, electrified Slash Harkens, and a personalized Sand Panel system that last time he checked, was still in the blue-print process with main-streamed Knightmares.

All-in-all, the piece of work was the combined masterpiece of the two girls, Mariel handling most of the modifications while Cynthia helped where she could while also being the pilot. The two worked considerably well together, and against the average pilot Cynthia proved to be a challenge. It made him wonder what the two might achieve if they had better resources, and it was something he was fully intending on seeing.

"Impressive," Jeremiah complimented, having seen many Knightmare frames over the years making his opinion very influential.

"All right then," Lelouch mumbled, making his own decision.

"What is it?" Cynthia asked, who was standing just a bit behind him.

"When we graduate I'm going to give my personal recommendation for you two to get some real funding from my brother, Schneizel. He's always looking for new brilliant minds. Play my cards right and I could get you both apprenticeships with Lloyd Asplund. After all, it's my brother who's his current funder right now."

"Really! That's great, it'd be a lot easier with your help, thanks Prince Lelouch," Mariel exclaimed. "Isn't this great Cynthia, with this, we may be working on project Camelot by the end of the year."

"Yeah, it's… great," Cynthia finished half-heartedly as she suddenly found her feet to be very interesting, making it obvious to all parties present that something was wrong.

"Cynthia?" Mariel questioned, wondering what had gotten into the girl she knew who always seemed so upbeat.

"It's nothing," Cynthia denied, trying to drive away their concerns, "Hey, Mariel, can you show Lelouch the rest of the school, there's something I need to do." With that she turned her back to her friends, getting out of the shed just under a running pace.

Lelouch may not have been the smartest when it came to women's feelings, but he wasn't a complete idiot, and anyone with half a brain could tell something was wrong. "I'm going to go talk to her, maybe I can find out what's wrong."

"That would probably be best," Jeremiah confirmed, Mariel nodding her head of her own approval. And with that, Lelouch chased after his best friend.

––––––

It took him a while to find her, but getting a sudden premonition, he found her on the roof, leaning on the railing, looking over the grounds. He walked over to her, taking his place to her right and looking over the Academy himself. It was quite a spot, and it was obvious why it was a place she would retreat to, it had a great view, the quiet environment leaving someone alone with their thoughts, and something told him it'd be great for stargazing on a clear night, something that he loved to do with his sisters when they were younger.

"Hey, Lulu?" Cynthia stated, interrupting him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," he returned, thankful that she was at least still willing to talk with him.

"Remember back when your mother died, when I had to leave, what I promised you?"

His brow furrowed in concentration, three years was plenty of time for his memory to dull, and it took a while for him to recall what they had said on that tearful day.

"That you would join the military, so that way we could be friends again?" he took a guess, hoping that was what she meant, he'd look like an idiot otherwise.

She smiled depressingly, remembering those dark days, "Yeah, that. And if I joined Mariel and became an apprentice, what would happen?"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow, wondering where she was going with this, when it suddenly came to him, and he immediately felt like the biggest jerk in the world. Lelouch was known among the nobility as a cold tactician and strategist like his brother Schneizel, earning himself the title of the Black Prince, and many speculated that he would grow up to be vicious and resentful thanks to his mother's death and his personality, but it was because he hated Britannian nobility, and knew no other way in which to act in their presence. But none of that meant that was his true persona.

He knew he had much to owe to Cynthia for becoming his friend all those years ago, he could only imagine how he might have turned out without her friendship. She'd gotten him out of some dark times, and in doing so had enlisted the assistance of his sisters as well. It was because of that and other things that allowed him to behave as the loving, doting elder brother he was when in the company of his sisters, one of the only times he truly felt happiness nowadays.

With his comment about Lloyd, he'd essentially told her he moved on from their childhood friendship, and that she should pursue other things, but he knew that if she cared for him even half as much as his sisters did what her true desire was.

"You want to serve me as my knight, like Jeremiah, don't you?"

The nod he received confirmed all his suspicions, her hair covering her face from view, "Yes," she answered, "I've spent all this time trying to get stronger, but the only thing I seem to be good at is being a scientist. I've heard rumors you know, about you and Nunnally, apparently you're both great Knightmare pilots, and people believe Nunnally may be a second Marianne." She turned her head over in his direction, and he was suddenly reminded of the sad little girl he remembered on the day they'd separated. "It just makes me feel so useless, the only way I can face my opponents is with either similar or better technology, and as soon as I'm at a disadvantage I lose. Even if you did accept me as your knight I'd be completely useless! And I just feel so…so…"

At that point she didn't get to finish, Lelouch having had enough of her self-degrading monologue. He caught a brief glance at the tearful look of surprise on her face before pulling her into one of the many comforting hugs they'd shared in their childhood. Since their time apart, he'd gained a few inches on her, now being the taller of the two despite being a year younger. It only took a moment before she clung on to him, letting out the years of grief since their separation and her feelings of inadequacy in a long heart-throbbing sob.

"Don't you ever talk like that," he scolded, resting his head against hers in an act of comfort, "You'll never be useless Cynthia, you're my best friend, and no one else can take your place, I'm not saying you're my only friend, but being there or not, you got me past my mother's death, and for that you have my gratitude. Besides, who said you had to be my knight on the field Cynthia, there are plenty of other things you could do."

"Really, like what?" she asked in a dejected tone, but he noticed the hint of hope in her voice.

"Well, Schneizel has Lloyd, and my father could hire any scientist he wanted inside of Britannia, if I'm going to avenge my mother's death one day I'm going to need all the help I can get, and those who are loyal to me and _only_ me. And a scientist, Cynthia, is exactly the kind of help I need. I can get any ace pilot to be one of my knights, we get applications back at the castle almost every day, but a mind like yours is something someone runs into once in a lifetime, and don't let anyone tell you different. So cheer up, okay? I just can't imagine my best friend like this."

Through his jacket he could feel her smile, relieved to know he'd done some good at comforting his friend, crying girls had never been his forte. "Thanks Lulu, you know how to make a girl feel better, you know that."

"Glad to be of service, my lady."

That got a laugh out of her, and with that Lelouch was confident he had his friend back, stepping away as she dried her tears. Soon they were back in their original positions on the roof, looking down at the school below.

"Hey Lulu, promise me something?"

"Sure, anything at all."

"When I graduate, can you keep to what you said before?"

"Sure, it's a promise." And with that the two slipped back into silence.

––––––

The next year was full of excitement. Lelouch took Cynthia's place as the pilot of the Glasgow, until he managed to bring in a Sutherland, to which Cynthia and Mariel reacted to ecstatically, beginning their work on it almost immediately. After several months and many headaches they came up with a finished project. The first thing they did being giving it a custom black paintjob to match Lelouch's namesake. Among them the modifications included heavier armor, more responsive ejection system, a pull-up command display with tactical map, and shoulder mounted missile launchers. They also tried working on the sand panel system again, but gave up on the project as the Sutherland just wasn't that adaptable. They'd have to wait for the production of a new frame, or develop their own, and the later option was unlikely thanks to their lack of funds for such an experiment, even with Lelouch's connections. Besides, they were in high school, they still had years before they had to worry about such things. Many of the modifications had been suggestions of Jeremiah, and they'd taken the suggestions to heart in their experiments.

The school roof soon became a personal hangout for the group of three, and after Lelouch had mentioned the many nights he spent as a child stargazing with his three sisters they'd started their own little unofficial astronomy club, Mariel having obtained a telescope and a star map. Many a night they spent looking up at the stars, Jeremiah having participated himself on occasion, it was their paradise where they could enjoy themselves and forget about school, and they held many personally funded parties amongst the three of them. They didn't apply to become an official club because it was time where they could relax, and they didn't want to interrupt that by involving new members. In short, it was a time where they bonded, the friendship among the three of them growing stronger

Then came the fateful day of graduation that summer, and with Mariel's level of intelligence, it was no wonder she was among them. Lelouch committed to his promise, obtaining her a spot of apprenticeship with Lloyd making her future look bright. As a thank you she promised to pass along anything from the Camelot project that wasn't deemed top secret, to which both Cynthia and Lelouch were thankful for. And after a tearful goodbye between the girls and an extravagant graduation party funded with some of Mariel's savings and the rest by Lelouch, she was escorted to a limo aiming for the airport to where she'd get a ride to Area 11 where the project was currently located.

That summer was spent at the academy, with the combined efforts of him, Cynthia, and Jeremiah, improving their Knightmare Frame as well as carrying the modifications over to a set of them Lelouch had managed to acquire, Cynthia creating the plans and handling the technical side while Lelouch and Jeremiah became the grease monkeys, doing the heavy lifting and installing the equipment. And Lelouch's improved physical condition thanks to all his garage work and the military training wasn't the only change. Thanks to his lady friends he'd gotten to know a lot about Knightmare frames, and a better understanding of the technology gave him better performance in battle. Like for instance he knew where it was better to take a hit if he couldn't dodge, and then came the day Lelouch was personally dreading for the past year.

––––––

**August 28, 1014 a.t.b. - 9:04 Hours**

––––––

"Big brother!"

"Ah! Nunnally, please, not in public!"

Jeremiah and Cynthia laughed as they watched from the sidelines as Lelouch was glomped by his little sister. It was a surprise to them all that despite not being 13 for another two years Nunnally was admitted into the Academy early, but Lelouch knew it probably had something to do with some _persuasion_ of the Academy officials from a certain purple-haired sister of his.

With her was a pink-haired girl around the same age. The truth behind the matter was that the Academy was admitting underage children who showed considerable talent with a Knightmare, it was probably a way the empire was trying to obtain future Knights of the Round and to just point out ace-level pilots early, and Nunnally had been one of the candidates surprisingly.

"Nunnally, how've you been? How's Euphie?" Lelouch asked once he had gotten out of his sister's vice grip. What was with him being viciously tackled on the first day?

"I've been great, brother, but I've missed you, Euphemia too. And it's great to see you again, Cynthia, it's always nice to see old friends," Nunnally answered, settling for a softer greeting with her brother, Cynthia returning her own sentiments through a smile. And he knew it too, the siblings had kept in contact through video communication the past year, including their brother Clovis who was the current Viceroy of Area 11 and Schneizel who was assisting Cornelia lead the troops on the EU front. And while it was great way to stay in contact, nothing could compare to the joy of enjoying one's company in person.

"That's great, Nunnally," Lelouch replied, his features softening in the presence of his beloved little sister. "So, Nunnally, who is she?" he asked, looking over at the odd girl.

"Anya Alstreim," the girl answered, meanwhile taking a photo with her phone. Receiving questioning stares from the group at her odd behavior, she looked up from her phone for a moment commenting, "For my blog," answering one of their many unasked questions before turning her attention back to the small screen.

"She's a friend," Nunnally explained, "We were both placed in the same group when they were looking at scholarship applicants, and we've been together ever since. She's fine once you get to know her. We both wanted to get here for our own reasons and here we are."

Lelouch shrugged, it wasn't like it bothered him, for as long as he'd known her Nunnally had always been a great judge of character, far better than himself, so anyone she considered alright he didn't mind hanging out with his dearest younger sister, and Anya seemed okay herself, if not a bit of a recluse.

"Alright, well, welcome to the group Anya," he greeted with a smile, once again managing to distract her from her blogging, Cynthia agreeing in the background.

––––––

And so with that their group began anew. While they'd lost Mariel, they still kept in contact with her, and they'd gain new members in his sister and her friend. And they quickly proved their worth.

When they showed the two the work of their combined effort, even Anya had seemed visibly impressed. And Lelouch soon found out why such young girls were accepted into the academy. In a practice one-on-one, he'd gone up against them to see what they were made of, only to have his butt handed to him, twice, even with all the upgrades made to his Knightmare.

While Nunnally seemed to excel at using rifles and other long-ranged equipment, Anya dominated her opponents with sheer power, enjoying the heavy weapons that included the missile launchers, chaos mines, and heavy cannons. That didn't mean that they were terrible in other areas. No, he was sure that after graduation Anya would definitely receive a request to join the Knights of the Round, the only thing truly holding Nunnally back being her status as a member of the royal family.

All the same he took a back seat from that moment as the test pilot for Cynthia's creations, but that didn't mean he stopped being a pilot all together. No, while his one-on-one match victory among the school's record was only around a 63% or so versus Nunnally's near-perfect score, her only blemish being her defeat by Anya, in their squad oriented matches Lelouch remained undefeated, maybe it had something to do with having two of the best students of the Academy under his command, but his record remained untarnished, having scored victories against many of the senior groups even. And it helped that Cynthia provided logistical support throughout their battles from the sidelines.

Of course battling wasn't the only thing they did, they kept their personal Astronomy club going, and even the unemotional Anya had seemed interested, taking what seemed to be tens of photos every night of the heavens above. Meanwhile, Jeremiah continued to stand back in everything, always being there if he was needed, but otherwise staying closer to the shadows. After all, while at school, his only duties were to ensure his prince's safety and education.

All the same, their group was quickly gaining popularity among the student body, and their recognized custom black Sutherlands quickly gave them the group title of the Black Knights, an ironic nickname if Lelouch had been aware of the future. And then came in the first package from their friend from Camelot.

––––––

**November 15, 2014 - 13:26 Hours**

––––––

"Got a package from Mariel," Cynthia announced, walking into the shed that had quickly become their hangout, gaining the attention of all members present. It wasn't so much a package though as a roll of designs.

"Let's see what we have here," she continued as she unrolled the plans, Lelouch and the others looking over her shoulders.

"Blaze Luminous? Rocket Propelled Slash Harkens? My, my, it seems our little spy gave us quite the gift," Cynthia commented as she looked through the plans. And while Lelouch understood some of the sketches and drawings involved among the designs, having dealt with Mariel's drawings the year before, Nunnally and Anya were confused, not for the fact that the plans were difficult to understand, but that the drawings themselves were terribly organized, plans intersecting with one another and random notes baffling anyone unfamiliar with Mariel's work.

"I'll get working on these right away," Cynthia announced, rolling the plans up and sliding them into the plastic tube they'd originally come in.

"Terrible," Anya commented, repelled by the horrible scribbles.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad," Nunnally gave her own opinion.

"Well that's just Mariel for you," Lelouch responded with a smirk, "She an absolute genius, but she was never intended to be an artist."

"Obviously," Anya and Nunnally replied simultaneously.

––––––

Things just got a lot crazier from there, unfortunately the plans for the Blaze Luminous Mariel had sent them couldn't be used since the technology involved was far more advanced than anything they could get at the academy, the Rocket Propelled Slash Harkens, which they nicknamed the RP Slash Harkens to make it a bit less of a mouthful, were a different matter though. By the end of the first semester Cynthia had already come up with a prototype, and while still unusable for Knightmares, it did make a big statement about her abilities, and it gained her the respect she had of yet to gain from Anya, the young ace finally acknowledging the older girls superior knowledge of Knightmares, even if she was an average pilot at best herself.

That wasn't the only thing that changed, as the year moved on, their group became more precise and their roles clear. Lelouch was obviously the leader, giving commands through the IFF Transponder and their isolated communications signal. Anya and Nunnally played the role of soldier, Nunnally attacking from afar while Anya went for the quick and hard. Cynthia played the role of the outsider, while also giving Lelouch a few suggestions of her own through the IFF and keeping any other cadets from hacking their network signal.

The group of four were a lethal force; the fifth unseen entity that was Mariel passing down Knightmare plans either of her own design or from the Camelot project, whatever it was they were building, to help upgrade their Knightmares. Unfortunately they couldn't use all the plans as it was a school, and their target as such was to disable, not kill, and some of Mariel's ideas were meant to do just that.

And soon came the day everyone knew was coming.

––––––

**June 17, 2015 a.t.b. - 20:12 Hours**

––––––

"I dub thee, Cynthia Rou Tjarrd, as my second knight," Lelouch finished, ceremoniously tapping both of her shoulders with her recently acquired sword.

Indeed, it came as no surprise to anyone who knew them when Lelouch kept his promise and knighted his best friend after her graduation. What most didn't know was that the girl would not serve as his sword and shield as most knights, but as his mind and soul, while Jeremiah easily took the first role.

"Thank you, my lord," Cynthia commented as she rose up from her kneeling position, breaking the formalities in her usual manner as she embraced her best friend, thrilled she'd finally completed her dream of concreting her presence in his life. Personally she didn't see her affection as any more than that of a friend, but others in the school had thought differently, some even confusing her as the prince's girlfriend. Of course, none of this was known to either of the two involved.

"Great job you guys," Nunnally complimented as she approached, Anya just behind her.

"Lulu!" someone suddenly exclaimed as what could only be described as a pink comet flew into the unsuspecting prince, knocking him off of his feet. Said comet was later to be revealed as an over-zealous Euphemia.

"What have you been doing Lelouch?" began said sister as they both rose from the ground, Lelouch by that point having gotten uncomfortably familiar to such advances through the years, it honestly kind of scared him.

"I've barely seen you for the past two years, Lulu," she scolded, insulted that he had yet to come and see the family, and hurt that he hadn't come to see her.

"I've tried to stay in contact, Euphie. But the rules of isolation are strict over there at the Academy, and I couldn't just up and leave my classes to see the family, there are rules."

"I know, but that doesn't change the fact that you guys have left me alone back at home."

"I'm sorry Euphemia, but I promise I'm done with the whole school thing. Isn't that right, sister?" Lelouch comforted, directing the second half to Cornelia who had just arrived alongside Schneizel, Clovis couldn't make it, as he had duties keeping him busy in Area 11.

"That's correct Lelouch, I've arranged for you and dear Nunnally to command the 256th Ashfordshire Regiment of the XII Division. As much as it pains me to say it, you two have more than demonstrated capabilities in the field according to the school officials. It's comprised mostly of fresh recruits, and I thought they could use someone as their commanding officer who'd they recognize," Cornelia answered as she detailed their assignment.

And indeed, with Ashfordshire being the home of the Ashfords before they'd been banished, the area had since then fallen to depression, and the once happy town went downhill. The men and women there would be determined to prove their self-worth. And with Lelouch to lead them, well, there were quite a few possibilities to be sure.

When it came to school, well, all birds had to leave the nest at some point. Some just left _a lot_ sooner than others.

"But that's even worse, Lulu!" Euphie cried out as she realized her dear brother and sister were about to be sent out to war of all things. "Just promise you won't get hurt, okay, brother," Euphie continued as she shivered slightly at the thought of losing either of them.

"I promise, Euphie. You can guarantee I won't allow myself or Nunnally to charge into anything without a plan, besides, when have I ever let you down?"

"What would you have us do, my lord?" Cynthia asked at attention when it appeared the sibling moment had ended, Nunnally and Anya also taking a stricter stance behind her, all three having perfected the roles. It wasn't like they needed to do it, Lelouch already saw them as equals, and Nunnally was his beloved sister, but he'd gained a lot of the three's respect over their year together and proved, at least in their eyes, to be their commanding officer. This was just their way of showing such trust.

Lelouch smiled at scene, he was going to get a lot done with the help of these three, Jeremiah too. And as he thought of the possibilities that grin slowly shifted to a smirk, to which he then replied,

"Prepare for war."

* * *

Author's Signoff: Sorry if Lelouch or any of the other characters seem a little OOC right now, they'll gain a bit more of their usual character once we make it to the Shinjuku incident, not to mention, these are their school years, not a lot is going to happen. Next chapter will be much more detailed, I assure you. Realize that they did have a different beginning, so characters like Nunnally are going to be almost completely different.

Yet another hint to Cynthia's true name with the mention of her sisters. Probably the biggest hint I could give without blatantly stating her name, which I'll be revealing next chapter.

And here's where the storyline creates its foundation of how it'll change from the original storyline, I can only imagine how much better Lelouch's rebellion would have gone had he better tech right from the beginning. Cynthia in a way will be like Lloyd and Suzaku, Lelouch's personal designer. Why? Well Rakshata Chawla was there for the ride and not personally loyal to him to which Cynthia obviously will be. And you probably thought I was going to make her some kind of ace pilot like a second Kallen.

Yes, I managed to get Anya to be a part of Lelouch's group, something I had planned from the beginning, and eventually she'll be joining the harem too. But could someone give me an accurate description of the relationship between Anya, Marianne, and C.C. I realize that Marianne can telepathically contact C.C. through Anya, in which case the latter loses her memory, but what happens when the two get close in contact with each other, because the anime doesn't seem to explain it too well. For the person that answers, I'll answer any spoiler-related questions you may have or add in a story idea of yours, as long as I can work it in.

So now the years of Academy are over, and hopefully sometime near the end of chapter four will finally involve Area 11 and the Shinjuku Incident, but no promises. And remember people, all writers like reviews. And once again, anyone know a good beta?

See Ya!


	3. To Prepare For War

Author's Ramble: Did a little editing of the first chapter, edited and added a few scenes, so check that out if you haven't noticed. And now here's chapter 3…

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass; if I did well, I certainly wouldn't have to write these little messages now would I?

Signs of Speech:

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

_~Radio Transmissions~_

_

* * *

_

"From now until the end of the world, we and it shall be remembered.  
We few, we Band of Brothers.  
For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."  
**-William Shakespeare ("King Henry V")**

**

* * *

**

_**To Prepare For War**_

**––––––**

**June 29, 2015 a.t.b.**

**––––––**

Ashfordshire, a county that was a couple hours plane flight from the capital of Pendragon, 200 miles away from the western coast, the ancestral home of the Ashfords. Unfortunately, the area had fallen into a depression at the fall of the Ashford's nobility and banishment. The once proud Knightmare production facilities lay in disrepair as military contracts were lost and the workers emigrated, empty metal shells the only thing that remained of the Ashford's legacy.

Long story short, their economy was at its worse, unemployment being at a shocking percentage of 23%. As a result, the recruitment offices had been overworked with the near 30,000 applications that had been sent in for the regiment size of just over 5,000.

Lelouch looked at the troops moving around him as he walked through the barracks made of wood and sheet metal. He'd gotten so used to the comforts of the Academy, he'd nearly forgotten what real military life was like. These men were the soldiers he'd be leading during the next few months and as such he would have to grow acquainted with them, and soon, if he went by what Cornelia had told him.

A month. One week here in Britannia to assemble the men, and then another three spent in training in the conquered area of Northern Egypt before they were sent off to the front to join up with Cornelia's forces in Europe. A month was all he had before he and this regiment would be sent out to fight. A month to prepare and get to know one another. A month to learn how to _trust_ each other with each other's _lives_.

Yeah, he definitely didn't have enough time.

"So, are you ready," Nunnally asked from beside him, even if she was decided to be his co-commander by officials, it was decided between them that he'd take on all responsibilities of the regiment as a whole, leaving her in command of a single squad, and as a second voice to question his decisions if his plans seemed too risky. They were going to war soon, and the nervousness in her voice was hardly withheld.

"Of course," Lelouch declared, trying to raise his sister's spirit. He'd spent years at the Academy training for such things, and even if he had "graduated" early, he'd long since overcome his anxiety of facing his first engagement. He had to or else he'd hesitate at the first sign of combat, and that would only cost lives. "You have nothing to worry about Nunnally," he assured, "Remember, I made a promise to Euphie, right?" That seemed to get her spirits up a little higher. They held a mutual trust between one another, one that he made sure to uphold to the best of his ability by keeping every promise he made, and this was a promise he most definitely would not break.

The men under their command were young, not as much as they, but still. Their ages ranged from either being barely older than himself to just in their mid-twenties. Since the fall of the Ashfords there was little sign of the nobility among them and none were present within the current group. In short, they were the sons of engineers, farmers and factory workers.

Exactly what he needed.

One of his first duties was to assemble a regiment of men out of the applicants that were available. He'd done so while keeping the needs of the regiment in mind. And he had gained the men's commitment by bringing up the thing they shared in common. They were all considered commoners, less than dirt, in the eyes of the upper nobles, he because of Marianne's status and the men because of the status they were born into. It was for the same reason that he'd lost his friends five years ago. He _refused_ to let such a thing happen again.

They were a once respected people, deemed useless by their country and government with the fall of their liege. They were a people looking for success common among the working class, and who were willing and desired to prove their worth.

In other words, they were untainted by the filth that was Britannian nobility, and who had yet to hand their respect and loyalty to a new lord since the Ashfords' fall. Quite simply, they would be the beginning of the forces he would lead to avenge his mother's death and change the world. He would make sure their loyalty would not lie with their country, but with their leaders, with only their families to sway their minds otherwise.

As he and Nunnally walked the grounds, they observed the men stationed around them. Some in training exercises, others grouped together on break most likely talking about their new commanders or the local news, and still others preparing for their ship off in a week's time.

They found Cynthia talking with one of the engineers, discussing some kind of gibberish he most certainly didn't understand. He was surprised by how well the men seemed to be accepting of their little group. These were men who had been spat upon by the Britannian government, and yet barely here for a day and they were already accepting them like old friends.

Trust would be a primary factor in his plans, but such a thing was hard to earn with almost, if not all people. And while he knew what he was seeing wasn't quite trust, seeing Nunnally to his side laughing at a joke one of the men just told he came to think that maybe, just maybe…

This wouldn't be so hard after all.

––––––

"So, what do you plan on doing with this sorry lot?" Cynthia asked him as their group looked at the assembled Knightmares assigned to their command.

In an act of defiance Lelouch hadn't been surprised of hearing, they'd been undersupplied. Reports said that they should have had 108 Knightmare frames in the motor pool. They had 78, half of which where the outdated Glasgows they were familiar with from school. Alongside them were several outdated V-1 Leviathan Tanks and VTOL Gunships for air superiority since an airborne-Knightmare was currently unheard of. But Lelouch had never been known to be caught completely off guard, and now definitely wasn't the time.

"Cynthia, with the help of our engineers, how many of these Knightmares would you be able to modify with the standard upgrades before we leave at the end of the week? Also, could you do anything about the tanks or gunships?"

"Well, as long as we don't run into any issues, I'd say around 54, 56 tops. The only thing we'll really be able to do is increase the speed and response time a bit, other than that I can't help you. And I guess we could charge the shot of the rail guns on the Leviathans for one hit, one kill standards. Can't really do much otherwise, these things are antiques meant to be in a museum, not the frontlines of the battlefield. The gunships would definitely be a challenge, enough so that I'm sorry to say we certainly can't get anything significant done in a week. Air units are hard to deal with, it's one of the reasons why there still hasn't been an airborne Knightmare frame. Why?"

He smirked, "Simple, against the Panzer-Hummel, one of the Sutherland's only advantages would be its superior maneuvering, and I fully intent to exploit that advantage. Besides, the other modifications would take too long, so I knew better than to ask. The tanks we'll more than likely use to carry the Knightmares around since Sand Panels are still in the testing phase, but as a mobile platform they could serve defensive purposes. I guess I can live with the helicopters as they are. You can't have everything, eh?

"Now, get it done. Also, have someone bring our own customized Knightmares to the field; it's about time we got some actual combat testing done." He looked over in the direction of twin smoke stacks, the owners of which had abandoned them long ago. "And how long would it take to get one of those old factories to mass produce some Sutherlands for us?"

There was silence as she thought about the answer, "Well, since the foundation and equipment is already there, the only thing we'd need to worry about would be the materials and recalibrating everything to produce them, so I'd say around, two weeks maybe if nothing went wrong?"

It seemed the Black Prince's smirk would only continue to grow today. "Good, then I want you to assign a small squad of engineers to the job and for you to stay here to oversee preparations. I want to see you in two weeks on a carrier full of new Sutherlands with the standard upgrades."

Cynthia opened her mouth to disapprove about staying when she realized he was right. She knew the most about such things and as such her place was here, at least for the time being. Nodding instead in agreement, she walked off, intending to get started immediately.

"What would you have us do, brother?" Nunnally asked next, Anya right by her side.

"Simple, assemble the best of our fighters among your squad. You'll be leading flanking maneuvers, and as such you'll usually be behind enemy lines, so you're going to need our best underneath your personal command. I trust you can get this done?"

"Consider it finished, I'll see you in a bit, Lulu," Nunnally answered as she and Anya walked off to complete their tasks.

"And me, my lord?" Jeremiah asked, the only member of Lelouch's commanding force left.

"Walk with me, Jeremiah, I could use some company."

––––––

The next month was probably one of the busiest Lelouch could remember having the displeasure of facing. It was a constant movement of troops and supplies, setting up a beach head, and then getting a functional base up and running. Exceeding expectations, Cynthia arrived a week later than the main force with her team of engineers, with news that the factory was up and running and that all the positions had been quickly filled. She advised they get more up and running, as they provided jobs to the residents, and if they started selling Knightmares to the rest of the empire, they could not only make some profit, but boost the economy of the decaying county.

While Lelouch hadn't talked much during her report, she knew he'd probably gone with this plan with that very idea in his mind. Her suspicions were confirmed when he showed her the deal he'd made with military command under the guise of a fake company name, after all, he didn't want them knowing that he was building his own Knightmares as well as selling them. He'd also organized the refurbishing of several of the other factories, and they'd be operational by the end of the month.

With her arrival, Cynthia had brought with her 8 Sutherlands, two rows of four lined up in the carrier. And with that their frame numbers rose to 86, it wasn't much of a change, but in a battle, every man and machine could make the difference. With that in mind the numbers were something he could definitely work with. And thanks to the facilities now running back in the homeland, he could at least count on reinforcements.

Or at least that's what he had thought...

A few days away from their operation before they would join up with Cornelia's forces across the Mediterranean and the EU had launched a counter-offensive in the form of a blockade. While Britannia's scientist were the leaders of modern technology, that didn't mean the EU were not a worthy adversary. The recently produced Panzer-Hummel was a testament to that.

Superior in terms of both firepower and armor against the Sutherland, the only way to take one down was to use the Sutherland's superior speed and agility to outmaneuver it or to hit it in the rear where the armor was weakest. In short, it was built with the intentions of being a Knightmare killer.

Lelouch knew this, and thanks to Cynthia's improvements the already agile Sutherland could probably outmaneuver all mass-produced frames of the age. Then again, if Mariel's messages had any meaning, whatever they were working on would be able to outdo any modern Knightmare in just about all factors.

He looked forward to seeing what they were working on.

The Glasgows unfortunately weren't as easy to improve and so as a substitute he made sure they concentrated on speed, if things went south, they could get the men out fast. After all, retreat was never something to be ashamed of. Some of the best commanders in history retreated to achieve greater victories in the future.

Unfortunately with the EU's Navy behind them and their military in front of them that advantage seemed to be pointless. They were surrounded on all sides, no where to run. The Britannian Navy was on its way, but they had to hold out until that time, and that therein was the challenge.

––––––

**August 3, 2015 a.t.b. - 10:46 Hours**

**––––––**

_~They're trying the flank to our left, Richards, I want that gun in position now!~_

"It's getting there, Sergeant Major, this machine gun isn't the easiest things to tote around, add in the gunfire and Knightmares and you've got a shitload of hell!" Richards yelled back into his radio, a pair of Privates trying to set up the equipment behind him.

Corporal Gregory V. Richards, commander of the 5th Platoon of the XI Infantry Division was not having a good day. He'd had the pleasure of waking up to the cry of artillery and then being yelled down by his commanding officer all morning. His radioman was dead along with the other fourth of his platoon, and the ones who could still fire were quickly being taken out or joining the wounded.

They were short on ammo, rations, and water, all because apparently some EU Special Forces aided by some of the local rebels had seen it fit to end their misery by sabotaging the few supplies they had overnight. Knightmare support was placed elsewhere so they were essentially on their own. In brief, they were screwed up to their eyeballs.

He cursed as Patterson, readying an RPG, suddenly had a bullet tear threw his skull, killing him instantly and further lowering the men's moral at seeing another one of their comrades fall so brutally. Fortunately someone let their soldier instincts kick in and picked up the dead men's weapon. Firing it and barely missing an enemy tank, it instead hit the unlucky APC behind it.

_~To anyone who can still hear this messag_e,~ it was the Sergeant Major once again, he paused as he entered a coughing fit, and Richards suddenly realized their commander had been hit, _~Artillery fire… destroyed unit command center… This is a message to all units… retreat to third phase line. Don't let those bastards through…~_

Not one to disobey orders, especially ones that entitled his life, the Corporal ordered a hasty retreat. The men who couldn't walk were assisted while those dead were left behind. In an effort of trying to stay organized, the first half with the wounded retreated while the second gave covering fire, and then vice-versa.

When they finally made it, his spotter, Private Harold, gave a horrifying revelation. Knightmares, the dreaded EU Panzer-Hummels lining up in what could only be an effort to break up their lines. And without any anti-Knightmare weaponry besides RPG's, that wouldn't be too hard. The storm was almost among them. They were unprepared, and as such they were going to pay the price. Or at least he had thought so.

Harold started reporting something else, the enemy formation appearing to collapse, the enemy appearing to be… shooting themselves. The next few seconds were filled by confusion on both sides, before they heard the horrible cry of artillery once again. The men took cover, expecting the worse, only to realize it wasn't them the artillery had been aimed at.

The men watched stunned as their enemy was engulfed in the accurate barrage of heavy artillery, the once feared Knightmares and other vehicles going up in a field of black smoke. Those who were lucky enough to survive the original onslaught were taken down in the following hail of gunfire, man and machine neither capable of bearing any form of counter-attack.

The men waited for the appearance of their saviors, unaware that they had all left their positions and taken places in the open, not that there was a threat of gunfire anymore anyways.

Silhouettes could be seen among the smoke and from the massacre appeared a black and grey themed Sutherland.

Hearing static abruptly coming from the radio behind him, Richards leaned down to the device, turning the knobs and dials as he homed in on the foreign signal. He eventually got it to come in clear, if not a little quiet. The men in the meantime had gathered behind him to listen as well.

_~…This is Prince Lelouch vi Britannia of the 256__th__ Ashfordshire. Friendly forces, hope you don't mind if we mope up this mess for you.~_

At the realization to the fullness of their situation, that they were going to live, that they'd been saved, excitement spread among the troops, many throwing their berets and helmets in the air, regardless of protocol. They would be few of the many to experience the miracles brought on by the acclaimed Black Prince. And it would be a story they would one day tell their grandchildren.

––––––

**August 5, 2015 a.t.b. - 14:12 Hours**

**––––––**

"So, how're we doing?" Lelouch asked his second knight as he took his seat within the G-1 Mobile Fortress. Cynthia was currently sitting with her back turned to him, looking at a sheet full of assorted data pertaining to the men's actions so far, looking for ideas at what would make the typical Sutherland better. After all, she'd taken him seriously when he had stated he saw her as his personal scientist rather than his knight. Not that it meant she wouldn't come to his aid when he needed her, she just served his purposes better this way.

"Supplies are being distributed to the men as we speak. If I could say something, my lord, if we keep going at this rate we aren't going to have anything left by the end of this month. The blockade is stopping everything from reinforcements to food rations. We don't really have such conveniences to give out right now."

Lelouch sighed at the news, "I know, but right now we need moral up. With our forces surrounded as they are we're in a bad position. Most of us are new recruits, including you and me. The plan was to meet up with Cornelia's troops and mix the two groups together. Have a combination of fresh troops and experience, but now both sides are suffering, and the EU knows this. All we have to do is hold until the blockade breaks, until then we're on the defensive here. But you are right about the supplies, tell the men that we're limiting them to half-rations, and give them the whole truth. Respect is a two-way street Cynthia."

"Now, how are the Special Forces doing?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Nunnally and Anya are fine, Jeremiah's unit is doing well too," Cynthia answered, knowing what he was really asking.

His shoulders visibly relaxed, "That's great. I just can't seem to let her go..."

He was cut off as his messenger came running into the room. Receiving permission to speak he hastily informed, "Sire, EU forces have been seen at the edge of our defenses. The men have taken defensive positions based on your instructions and are awaiting further orders."

"Good," Lelouch responded, turning to the tactical map in the middle of the room showing a digital remake of the landscape and the placement of the soldiers upon it. "Let's see what we can do here. Jeremiah, how's it going?"

_~Fine, my lord. What is it you would have me do,~_ Jeremiah answered from the cockpit of a Leviathan.

"Hold fire until I say so."

_~As you wish. On standby.~_

A brief pause as Lelouch switched frequencies, "Nunnally?"

_~Yes, big brother?~_

"Head to the position I have marked for you. Take cover and hold position until my orders. Disable IFF."

_~Okay.~_

"Anya."

_~What is it?~_

"I want you to break away from your unit, join up with the main force, you'll be leading them since Jeremiah and I are unable."

_~Do you know what your doing?~_

"Just trust me alright."

––––––

'_Just what do you have planned, my liege?'_ Jeremiah thought from within the tense atmosphere. When his prince had asked him to lead from a tank rather than a Knightmare, he knew he had something planned. The question was, what was it?

"Major, enemy units are now within range of our cannons. Range, 3500 meters. Permission to fire," his communications officer announced, also taking the role of observer for the moment.

"Hold, we are not to fire until the Colonel gives the command."

"Yes, sir."

The order had been simple, assemble the tanks alongside the road, dig in and use the sand dunes as camouflage. The disabling of their IFF Transponders also left them in radio silence, so all communications had to be done through short wavelength radios.

"2500 meters and counting, sir."

"Hold."

The situation was tense, but why wouldn't it be, one wrong move and they were all dead. In terms of firepower the V-1 outclassed most modern Knightmare frames without heavy weapon attachments, the thing that made it so vulnerable though was its slow speed. It was practically a sitting duck when compared against a Sutherland. The armor really didn't help much against an assault rifle either.

"1000 meter, sir, they're almost on top of us!"

"Hold, damnit!"

The Panzer-Hummels approached along the road, just as his prince predicted, why he wasn't allowing him to fire was confusing though.

"500 meters!"

"Just a bit more…"

In seconds, they were right on top of them. Jeremiah closed his eyes, waiting for this piece of junk to go up in flames and him along with it.

Only it never happened.

He opened his eyes, noticing some of his other men had done the same as himself, and watched through the viewfinder as the EU forces drove right on by. Hearing gunfire, and seeing the Panzer divisions taking defense, he noticed the main forces rolling down the road with that Anya girl leading them with their guns blazing.

'_What are you doing Prince Lelouch?'_

Another 15 stressful seconds passed by before he heard contact, the Britannian and EU forces finally meeting.

_~Jeremiah, do it.~_

"At once, your Highness. All status lights are green, fire, I repeat, fire!"

––––––

"What is it your doing, brother?" Nunnally pondered as her unit took positions atop the sand dunes, above their enemies where they could get a clear line of fire. All the Knightmares of her unit were holding either heavy cannons or Knightmare-issued sniper rifles, herself being included in the latter category.

Just as she noticed Anya beginning to engage the EU's forces, Jeremiah's tank fired, taking out a nearby Panzer, followed suit by the others under his command, and from her viewpoint it suddenly made sense what her brother had planned.

Absolute chaos.

Caught between the Sutherlands to their front and the tanks to their rear, the Panzer units were shredded apart, the Sutherlands quickly showing why agility would win the day. Her radio blaring to life, Lelouch gave her the message to go. She readied her rifle as she noticed a particularly troublesome scene. Not wanting anything to happen to her friend, she fired, dispatching the enemy unit before launching a barrage from her shoulder-mounted missile launchers at a group of EU frames who were trying to break though the encirclement and make a run for it.

And if someone were to pay close attention, they would notice most of her shots disabled the Knightmare, allowing the pilot to eject, only a few rare cases being otherwise.

––––––

Anya was surprised when Lelouch had ordered her to attack the enemy head-on, thinking he may have lost his mind. But once she'd seen his plan unfold she understood perfectly what he'd wanted her to do.

Shooting a nearby frame with her assault rifle, she destroyed its head, right arm and leg before its pilot decided to eject. Spinning around she disabled another behind her with her wrist-mount Stun Tonfas. Aiming her heavy cannon next, she fired, taking two Knightmares down at once. She was making short work of enemy units, showing just why she had a candidacy for a Knight of the Round.

Unfortunately everyone makes mistakes, and this one may have been fatal. Feeling an impact to the back of her frame, she looked only to see one of the EU bastards had managed to snag her with one of his Slash Harkens. Leveling his arm-mounted cannons at her, she closed her eyes as she prepared for the worse.

The sound of a single round echoed around her, but feeling no signs of getting hit she opened her eyes to see the cockpit of her enemy had been pierced clean threw by an ally sniper. Noticing the dark silhouette on top of a nearby sand dune, she didn't even need the IFF to know her princess had saved her. Giving a brief nod of thanks even if the girl couldn't see it she quickly got back into the fight, leading their forward maneuver once again.

––––––

The battle had been nothing short of a massacre. Lasting all but a few minutes, and the EU forces were either destroyed, captured, or in a few rare cases, retreating.

Lelouch was willing to call it a success.

The men were currently celebrating, honoring their prince's name for his glorious victory. Enemy Knightmares were captured and currently being looked over by Cynthia and her team. EU soldiers had been led to the holding cells, where they'd be staying until this siege let up and they could be given to the right officials. The only thing that remained of the past being the smoking frames of the battlefield, a number of bloody corpses among them. He only wished he could join his men in their celebration.

This was only the beginning, and he knew this. The EU forces were still here in Africa, and until the blockade was broken, they would continually run lower and lower on resources until their frames were running on fumes and they were fighting with bayonets.

He wanted to avoid this and he'd have to plan accordingly. There was another, less obvious, reason for the ambush. With the prisoners came supplies, their Knightmares were captured and they were relieved of their weapons and ammo. It most certainly wouldn't sustain them for long, but at least it was something.

_'And,'_ Lelouch thought as he looked out at the festivities, _'These men have given me their trust, and I plan on keeping it.'_

––––––

The prince was indeed right, the EU attacked them once again, heading down the same road they had before. Lelouch didn't know if it was out of stupidity or bravery, just that they obviously hadn't learned the first time from their mistakes. He'd be sure to show them as such now.

For their credit, they were far more cautious, but Lelouch never used the same trick twice, at least with the same enemy. While the approach and plan had been different, the result had been the same. The Europeans had forgotten about the VTOL Gunships, which Lelouch had conveniently refused to use up until this point in the conflict. Without airpower the Europeans hadn't stood a chance, even with Knightmares, and the Britannians found themselves in a similar position as before. With their enemy surrounded, this time by their own Knightmares as well, forced to either be killed or surrender, which most chose the latter.

That stretch of road was later nicknamed Satan's Highway for obvious reasons.

With victory, came confidence, from with which came trust, which was quickly followed by loyalty, and soon men even outside of his regiment were praising his name. The 256th unofficially grew in numbers as the men who fought alongside them noticed the skill of the Black Prince, and the conviction and zeal with which his soldiers followed him with. Even Anya began following his orders without question, and for the reckless pilot who generally ignored common sense, that was saying something.

And in the next six weeks as the men suffered from hunger, thirst, and shortages of ammo, not once did they curse the name of their Colonel who led them, knowing he was suffering from the same trials as they were. Although they had quite the colorful vocabulary directed at the navy boys who seemed to be taking their good time to show up.

When those six weeks were up and the first Britannian forces touched down on the beaches they were expecting to find the blackened frames and corpses of their comrades. Cornelia herself led the relief forces as she intended to crush the ones who she expected were her brother and sister's killers, she didn't enjoy the idea of telling Euphie that Lelouch had failed to keep his most important promise to date, and it had partially been her fault as to why.

Imagine their surprise when they found themselves at gunpoint not from EU forces, but from some _very_ irate Britannian soldiers with their prince and princess looking on behind them, Lelouch with a very noticeable smirk on his face. It wasn't long though that those harsh feelings were forgotten and the brothers-in-arms were embracing their comrades, some of them being actual brothers. Cornelia herself was seen tearfully hugging her younger siblings as she'd feared they had lost their lives in the conflict. They were the only siblings besides Euphemia who she could say she loved. They'd pushed their way into a place in her heart from the day Euphemia had found friends in her siblings all those years ago.

Later when the prisoners were handed over to command Lelouch would make the comment that they had more prisoners than they did ammo. And indeed, half the guns that were pointed at Britannia's arrival hadn't even been loaded. Cornelia would remark she was impressed the place was still standing as she walked deeper into the camp, if it could even be called that.

The G-1 Fortress had long since been reduced to a smoldering shell it once was, Lelouch deciding that the vehicle was well worth the distraction it provided, using the guise that he was aboard and tricking the Europeans into thinking they were killing the Britannian commander by destroying it. He took advantage of the situation and once the G-1 exploded in a field of shrapnel, the EU realized they'd already lost half their original force.

Now the immobile hull of metal was still used as their base of communications, if for no other reason than it provided shelter from the African sun since all the equipment had been destroyed in its demise. Besides, who would think a smoldering piece of junk was still being used for its original purpose.

Other fortifications had been built out of the land; the troops had practically gone back to trench warfare thanks to all the fortifications made of sand and rock. She noted with a hint of amusement that the Knightmares looked like some kind of device taken from a horror film, many being made up of assorted parts from a mix of Glasgows, Sutherlands, and the captured Panzers. She was willing to bet a certain blonde could be held responsible.

The men, she noticed, even the ones who were not a part of his regiment, followed her brother's orders without question, and she felt pride in the fact that the men trusted their prince with their lives, just as her own did through _years_ of combat, these men had been together for a few mere _weeks._ And she realized, for possibly the first time, that out of all her siblings, just how powerful Lelouch was.

His charismatic personality, able to bolster his troops in even the most dire situations with his mere presence, along with his obvious knowledge for strategy, made him the ideal general. As if his ability to survive for six weeks in unfamiliar territory, low on munitions, _surrounded_, did not prove that. It scared her to think of what might've happened had he been their enemy.

So it was her honor to promote him from Colonel to Major General, jumping two ranks into the military, that was the kind of miracle he'd brought, because while he'd done this for his life demanded it, in doing so he had protected their front in the African theatre, and because of this they might be able to put an end to the Middle Eastern Federation, or the MEF, within the next year. Besides, he was a prince, and unless the orders came from the Emperor or a older member of the royal family he was already meant to be hailed higher than most Generals.

With the promotion his regiment grew into a division, and with additions in the men now loyal to him from their battles in Africa Lelouch suddenly went from having close to 5,000 men under his control, to just fewer than 15,000. He realized he was suddenly very grateful for the new shipment of Knightmares coming their facilities in Ashfordshire. They were going to need them.

Cornelia then informed them of new orders; Schneizel was taking command of the forces attacking the EU. She and her unit were being re-stationed in their holdings in Africa, which they had thought they would have to retake from the EU before they'd encountered the men of the 256th. To say the least Lelouch's success had taken away a large headache for her. Their target were the EU holding of the El Alamein Front.

Commanded by one of the EU's most fierce Generals, the Britannian advance had been continually stopped before being pushed back at the small town bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It protected any advance into the MEF from the west, who had all their forces located in the east to counter-act the Britannian forces had been attacking from India. The defenses at El Alamein had prevented any attempts at a beach landing, which had led to the landing of the beaches close to their position.

Their task was to break though the EU front, push towards the sea fortress, and eliminate it. A very simple plan yes, but the challenge lay in how to achieve it.

The first thing the siblings agreed on was that they push from two fronts, Lelouch and the 265th from the south, while Cornelia and her men attacked from the west. They would move in a pincer movement, encircling the settlement in a siege. Special Forces would be launched beforehand to destroy the sea batteries so the navy would be able to blockade and provide fire support on the sea-port. Partaking in the siege as needed.

Of course, nothing proceeded as planned, and as such he, Nunnally, and Cornelia as well as their consultants spent the remaining time thinking of possible situations and how best to counter-act them.

––––––

The next few months were busy indeed. Not just for the Black Prince and his unit, but even back home. For their successes they were praised as heroes, the pride of Ashfordshire, while Lelouch's popularity among the people jumped leaps and bounds.

The Black Prince's plans for Ashfordshire's economy had proved successful; the factory's production rates were top notch thanks to the many employees coming from the county, and the economy was beginning its slow but steady rise to recovery. Not to mention the Knightmares they were sending were a big boost of moral to the men. It was always easier to fight when you had a Knightmare by your side.

The Britannian propaganda was having a field day with his operations in Africa. From their unbreakable defense at the beaches of North Africa to their unstoppable advance on El Alamein, the Black Prince and the 265th were described as invincible.

If only that rubbish was worth half the price of the paper it was written on.

Truthfully, things could've been going a lot better. The defenses around the primary base of the EU were feared for a reason. Lelouch had encountered his first defeat, which looking back on it, had probably been a good thing. Their losses hadn't been high, he'd seen that they weren't in any position to win without heavy losses when Nunnally had informed him of the ambush and had ordered a retreat. They quickly regrouped their forces and pushed on.

The outcome had reminded the Black Prince he wasn't invincible, something his ego had begun to tell him with their string of victories. Thinking so would cost him the lives of his men, his friends too. A lesson he forced himself to remember as they continued. It wasn't like it would be his last loss, sometimes the only thing that could be won in a battle were the lives of his men.

And indeed, ten miles away from the city and the EU's defenses held, the two forces locked in a stalemate of power. The defensive abilities of the Panzer-Hummel when locked in such a tight circle proved arduous. Like when Lelouch had been surrounded, the offensive capabilities of the Sutherland became ineffective when in such a tight space. The siege duration was expected to increase, and in such a fatigued state that left no one happy on either side, until hope finally arrived in the form of his knights.

Throughout the entire assault Anya and Nunnally were a constant support; their small unit was often the one that ended up flanking the enemy and routing enemy forces. Anya was like a wall that couldn't be stopped, any unit naïve enough to get near her usually ended up being blown up, and any that weren't were quickly taken out by Nunnally's rifle.

Cynthia had seen the two's work and had done her best to customize their frames to their individual styles. Nunnally had a slightly more advance Factsphere Sensor with an increase range, allowing her to take out units from thousands of meters away. She was even beginning work of her own version of the device, although she refused to let out any details of her work. She also built the heavier armor of Anya's Sutherland which allowed her to lead the assaults as she so often did.

Then there was Jeremiah, his first Knight proved invaluable because he possessed the one thing that none of them had, experience. True, he hadn't been on the actual field much longer than they, but that didn't mean he hadn't been in the military for years. And that small difference proved itself when he recognized enemy formations no one else did, which allowed Lelouch to make counter strategies.

The two-headed assault from both the Witch of Britannia and the Black Prince proved at last effective indeed, when Nunnally's squad had drilled a hole into the enemy formations, and soon Lelouch was ordering his units into the gap. The result was he found themselves behind enemy lines, far ahead of the allied forces of Cornelia's unit. And after a final push from the EU in an effort to stop them was repelled they found themselves at the gates of El Alamein.

––––––

**November 26, 2015 a.t.b. - 2:23 Hours**

**––––––**

"Princess Cornelia says her forces are held up and won't be able to provide any support. She asking for our status," Lelouch's communication officer informed.

"Tell her we're doing fine on our own. This battle will be over before the day is done. Inform Nunnally and Anya to begin operations, also send message to Jeremiah to have those artillery guns in position, something tells me we're going to need them," Lelouch responded while thinking, _'And with this, perhaps we'll finally have checkmate…'_

"Yes, my lord."

––––––

_~Lelouch is giving us the clear,~ _Anya informed from their hidden position in the city.

Nunnally, hidden in a burned out four-story building, answered into her radio, "Alright, taking the shot."

With the other members of her squad in position, it was her duty to initiate the assault. Finding an unaware Panzer-Hummel patrolling the docks she fired, the over-sized bullet travelling at unimaginable speeds before striking a critical joint in the frame's leg. There was a ten second pause in which the pilot ejected before the disabled Knightmare exploded in a dance of fire and metal thanks to the overheated Yggdrasil Driver imploding on itself.

In that period of time, the young marksman had already taken down two other frames. And with that the docks were lit in a hail of gunfire as her comrades opened up with their own weapons. Using her Slash Harkens to repel onto a nearby building she moved into a new position, after all, as a sniper she couldn't remain in the same position for long or risk detection.

From Anya's point-of-view another two Knightmares were taken out in the field of shrapnel from their exploding partner between them when one of her missiles made contact. While the princess was known for her mercy on the field she was not as gentle, they were her enemy, and as such they had asked for death the moment they joined the military. At least that was the logic in her mind.

"We've taken the port guns, the engineers should have the explosives set in a few minutes," she spoke into the transmission.

_~Understood, I'll keep an eye for anything… Anya! We've got what looks to be half the EU army headed our way. I don't think they like what we've been doing. Hurry up on those things. I'll make sure to take out a few of these guys before joining you.~_ Nunnally alerted over the signal.

"Copy that, we'll keep a lookout for them, let's hope your brother comes through with that escape route."

_~Anya, doubting my big brother are we? That doesn't sound like you at all. You've practically given him non-stop praise since this operation began.~_ Nunnally teased in a very uncharacteristic manner.

"Wha? No, I haven't," Anya tried to deny, the unemotional girl suddenly very glad no one could see the blush on her cheeks from within her cockpit.

The only response she received was the sound of the princess' laughter, the echo of a high-powered rifle going off in the background. And suddenly Anya had a thirst for blood.

The resulting bloodbath would be etched into the mind of any EU soldier unfortunate enough to be within her proximity at that moment, and would be a story forever preserved in the history books.

––––––

"Special Forces have reported that the explosives have been set and their evacuating to the landing craft now. EU forces have launched a counter-attack but their holding them off for the moment. Their requesting artillery support, General."

"Well then give it to them." Lelouch commanded, a smirk on his face as he his premonition was proven correct once again, before switching the radio transmission, "Jeremiah, fire all guns at the location provided." A marker popped up on the tactical map just outside of the circle of Special Forces headed for their escape.

The city that night would be lit in a rain of fire.

––––––

**December 2, 2015 a.t.b. - 21:19 Hours**

**––––––**

With the port-guns destroyed and the threat of the Britannian Navy at their backs and the seemingly invincible members of the royal family in front of them the forces of El Alamein reported a mass surrender.

The success at El Alamein was only dulled by at the news that the EU General had been recalled to the country to counter-act the White Prince. But it was a victory all the same and that was something Lelouch could live with. Besides, while he hadn't gotten the challenge he so desired, his friends and men were safe, and that was something to celebrate.

Festivities were held that night in the Egyptian city now under Britannian rule. The night was only interrupted for Lelouch by the news his half-sister brought.

"What do you mean I've been reassigned?" Lelouch asked, Nunnally and Anya on his flanks, Cynthia and Jeremiah sharing a discussion in the background.

"That's what I said Lelouch," Cornelia confirmed, "You've been reassigned to help Clovis with the terrorist problems in Area 11. You're also to watch over the Camelot Project as well."

"What about my men?" he asked, looking at the soldiers surrounding them in the festivities.

"They have two choices, to either join you in your reassignment or to take a leave and spend the next few months training in the homeland. They've earned that much with all the fighting that's been done these past few months."

"Then I guess pack your bags, everybody," Lelouch answered as he looked at his friends and knights behind him, "Because it looks like we're going to be taking a vacation to Area Eleven."

* * *

Author's Signoff: And I'll end that there. Next chapter will be Lelouch's entrance into Area Eleven and the rise of our favorite revolutionary.

Well, if you have any real military experience, then you've probably noticed some blaring errors in this chapter, if not, well then I guess I should give myself a bit more credit. I'm not a soldier and I don't ever plan to be, my younger brother does, but that's a different story. The closest I've been to war is through the hundreds, and I literally mean, _hundreds_, of war movies my brother watches. So yeah, no real military experience.

I apologize for the serious lacking of dialogue in the second half, but I wanted to get through Lelouch's campaign as fast as possible. The only thing I fear is that did I seem to make any of the characters seem a little too over the top? One thing I don't like about fanfiction is when an author makes a character, no matter whom, seemingly invincible, because let's face it, their faults are often the things that make them human, even get us to like them. So if at any time I seem to be crossing this line, I'd appreciate it if my readers could tell me, because yeah, I sometimes forget what I'm going.

And now for the unveiling. Cynthia is based off the character Cynthia Marguerite from the visual novel, Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na -Moonlight Cradle-. It's a little cheesy romance story, but it has some cute and humorous moments. And the story does get really surprisingly in depth at times. I'm a fan of August's works in general though, actually. So, just take that however you'd like.

As for the harem, forget any list, I'll let the members be a surprise to you guys and in this way it'll work better for me. If I write scenes just to have a moment between two characters to please a certain reviewer it's just going to sound forced, and no one likes to read that kind of garbage. And remember that just because two characters get a scene together doesn't mean they'll end up together, it just means the idea came to me while I was writing and I liked it. The writing flow needs to sound natural, and I hope I've been doing that so far.

Also, on a final note, Anya was never praising Lelouch, she's been as silent and as much of a background character as always; Nunnally just enjoys teasing her best friend, the little minx, kind of foreshadowing another character you'll be seeing next chapter…

See Ya!

P.S. Don't you hate how sites mess with your work and then you have to spend the next 30 minutes editing... I'm angry.


	4. The Rise of Zero

Author's Ramble: Sorry for the long wait, everyone, but life, it sucks at times, doesn't it. Not only that but I had quite a few things about this chapter I had issues with, and I still don't like what I came up with, so I apologize for the long wait, only for a half-attempt at what I usually try to do. But we're finally moving into the main plot, so hopefully no more writer's block for a while. And another thank you to those of you who review, you're the ones who continue to inspire me to work.

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass; And you know, why do I even have to tell you this? It's not like you don't already know, or as if you'd even care if I did. And really, why would I be here writing when I would have a crack team of writers to do that for me. Okay, ranting done.

Signs of Speech:

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

_~Radio Transmissions~_

* * *

"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong."  
**- Abraham Lincoln**

* * *

_**The Rise of Zero**_

––––––

**December 11, 2015 a.t.b. – 4:53 Hours**

––––––

Aboard a carrier somewhere in the Pacific, a black-haired 16-year-old commander was overlooking the water with indifference in his violet eyes. Thinking of where he was and how he'd gotten here.

His sister was seated next to him; her head leaning on his shoulder as she slept. They'd been doing this a lot lately, finding a brief moment of peace between them as siblings before their day began. Unfortunately, it took quite a bit to wake up earlier than military personnel.

A blanket was wrapped around the both of them, protecting them from the cold winter night air and the spray of the ocean waves. Lelouch smiled as he almost fell asleep to the sweet lullaby that was his sister's soft breathing. He chuckled inwardly at the thought of how much this moment would've been ruined had Nunnally snored. He was deeply thankful to whatever entity was responsible.

In the past few years their relationship had strictly been business or schoolwork, and it was on a clear November night and a nightmare of their mother that Nunnally had sought out to return to the relationship they once shared. His sister was the world to him, and he'd almost forgotten that with all that had happened in the past few years.

But perhaps, he thought, it might've been for the best. He never would have risked his sister's safety as often as he had on the African front, and he admitted that he was going to have to get past that over-protective side of his. At least, while they were on the battlefield, in rare moments like these, he could spoil her to his heart's content. His sister admittedly was a far better pilot than he, and consequently, his place was as their commander, and her place was as one of his main field agents.

That didn't mean though that he held the life of his sister to the same standard as that of his men. His men were an entity as a whole, a group of people who he respected and received loyalty in return, but it certainly didn't mean he loved any of them. In the end, all they were was but a means to an end. But he would not treat them as pawns just as his father did. No, just because he didn't feel personal attachment to any of them did it mean he held their lives of no value; they were still people after all.

His sister though, was someone who was a rarity in combat, seeing the importance of life on both sides of the battlefield, their enemy's and their own. Perhaps that was why she made such a wonderful marksman, taking out her opponents from afar, but at the same time giving them the opportunity of life.

"You really do love her, don't you?"

He was startled to realize he hadn't even heard her approach. When had he become so distracted? He'd have to take note of that for later. Without looking at the speaker he remained motionless, not wanting to disturb the sleeping body next to him, even as another took a seat next to him on the other side of his sister.

"Of course I do. She's the only thing I have left in this world. I'd die for her."

He could see her frown at the edge of his vision, her body tensing as well; obviously she hadn't liked his answer.

"Lulu, I think I speak for your sister when I say that I think she'd rather you _live_ for her."

That got him to realize what he'd just said. Why did he always say the stupidest of things when it mattered? He only felt further guilt when he saw her arms cross beneath her chest, an old habit she still had whenever she was nervous, and he was once again remembered their parting as children.

"Cynthia, you know that's not what I meant. Besides Cornelia and Euphie, she's the only sibling I have in my family that I can honestly say I love. Schneizel and Clovis are a big support, but they've both done things that make me ashamed to call them my brothers. They're politicians, and while they're both worthy opponents of chess, they have very little understanding of the real cruelties of the world. Schneizel thinks of life as just one big game, and Clovis wouldn't give a damn as long as he could be locked away in his room with his pictures."

"Do you really hate your family that much, Lelouch?"

He nodded, "I do, they took my mother away from me, were willing to throw me and Nunnally to the streets. And they would've done it too, if it hadn't been for Cornelia's intervention."

He could see her shiver, and he suddenly realized, he'd never seen her home life, but based on her reaction he could guess that she did at least love her parents. Maybe it was time he met the elder Rou Tjarrd, see what Cynthia's father was like.

"That sounds horrible, Lulu. Families are supposed to love each other, support each other, keep each other _safe_. The way you talk about it is as if it's just one big…"

"Game," he cut her off, "Tell that to my father. From the moment we're born into the royal family we're taught to compete against each other for the throne. The only reason why I can say I love my sisters is probably because of the fact that neither one of them have any interest in the throne. Cornelia's only concern is the military and Euphie just wants peace, neither of whom needs the throne to do so. So yes, it is kind of sad in a way." A brief silence enveloped the two; there was nothing to respond to what he'd said.

"Hey Cynthia, have you ever been to Japan?" Lelouch asked, changing the subject before their conversation got any more depressing.

"I thought it was Area 11, but no, I haven't," Cynthia answered, catching his mistake.

"Cynthia, don't let those idiots back home fool you. They're people, not slaves, and don't let anyone tell you different."

"You seem really determined about that. Why is that?" And for the first time in their conversation she looked over at him, innocent curiosity written all over her face.

He sighed, "A couple years ago Nunnally and I came here to visit another friend of ours, Milly Ashford. In that time we met the Japanese prime minister, Genbu Kururugi, and we even spent some time getting to know him. We also met his son, Suzaku."

"And you guys became best friends instantly, like you and me, huh?" Cynthia took a guess, her attention back on the waters in front of them.

"Not really," Lelouch laughed, "Actually, not at all. We hated each others guts truth be told. We were constantly fighting, and they'd have to call the personal guards at times to separate us."

"What got you two to fight so much?"

"Honestly, I don't even remember, I know that Nunnally had been brought up a few times, but it was mostly just his way to antagonize me. Well, after a while we tried to understand each other more, and that's when we became friends. Afterwards, we were called back to Britannia and shortly after that was the invasion, to which it was then renamed Area 11. But the time I spent there, however small, prevents me from calling them Elevens, I just can't see them as such."

By the end of the story Cynthia had a soft small on her face, she shifted as she tried to get more comfortable before resting her head on the shoulder opposite the younger Lamperouge, "You really are a great guy, Lulu."

"Thanks Cynthia, that means a lot," he replied. For one who was never all that much into physical affection, it sometimes surprised him how much he lowered his guard in the presence of his sisters and close friends. It didn't stop the fact though that he welcomed it all the same, it was a reminder in a way, one that kept him from forgetting his goal for a peaceful world, one without his father's influence. And with that thought in mind, the rest of the morning was spent in silence, wrapped in the comforting embrace of his slumbering sister and his best friend.

––––––

He was surprised of the answer he received when he had informed the men that they would be able to return home or follow him. Almost every soldier under his command chose to follow, and he certainly hadn't expecting why. Their response was that to wherever their prince went they would follow. He'd earned their loyalty, they were brothers-in-arms, they owed him that much. They were the first of many to call the Black Prince their liege, of that they were sure, and they took pride in such a fact. Lelouch would not soon forget their choice, and neither was he aware of how much a choice would change him from his original path.

They were to be stationed as a relief force for the actual Britannian military already stationed in Area 11, it wasn't like any of them were complaining. They all agreed that they had seen enough of war for a while, and until their prince called for their services once again, they were quite content with sitting back and relaxing a bit, even if it wasn't at home.

The next couple of days passed quickly. Their arrival in Japan was not marked with a parade or even an escort to the palace, and Lelouch honestly couldn't ask for more. Publicity of his arrival would lead to more violence more than anything else thanks to all the terrorist groups in Japan. He agreed with their goals of eliminating Britannia, but their means of accomplishing it, by harming civilians, would define them as nothing more than children with a temper tantrum.

When they finally arrived at Area 11, Lelouch and Nunnally left to meet Clovis while the others stayed behind to help with the offload of supplies. Once there, they informed their brother of their arrival and received instructions on where they'd be staying the next few months as well as their duties while staying there.

Their quarters would be in the Viceroy's Palace, alongside their brother, while the men were unsurprisingly stationed in the unused bunkers among assorted bases throughout the country. While not too thrilled about his unit being divided and spread so thin, Lelouch understood the necessity, the terrorists weren't just stationed here in the Tokyo Settlement and as such would allow Clovis this decision, although he made a note not to allow his brother too much leniency, it was _his_ unit for a reason. Unfortunately, this meant their friends were stuck there as well, but it wasn't as if he and Nunnally planned on spending any time in the palace anyway.

One of the first duties Lelouch attended to was his overseeing of Project Camelot, and no, it had nothing to do with Cynthia's…encouragement. In the end it was his own curiosity that forced his choice, and before he knew it they were being escorted by a group of white lab coats through the top-secret facility to their meeting point with the lab's lead scientists.

Lloyd Asplund was every bit the eccentric man he was rumored to be, and it was obvious he was one of those who chose his work over human relations, probably supporting his…interesting nature. It was obvious why Schneizel chose him to lead the project, if his sheer enthusiasm involving the project wasn't enough. His passion had merit though, after all, the first seventh generation frame was an impressive feat. The Lancelot, the name of the prototype Knightmare was finally revealed. They could finally put alias as to all of the tech they'd received, and speaking of their little operative, Mariel entered the room at that moment, flanked by the woman who could only be Lloyd's lead assistant, Cecile Croomy.

Cynthia was next to her in the blink of an eye, embracing the girl before any of them knew what to expect. The two were quickly involved in a conversation of their own, trying to catch up on the lost years. Seeing Lloyd and his lead assistant wave them over, Lelouch and the rest of his entourage followed the two out of the room, the prince had long ago reasoned he rarely understood what he deemed "girl talk". Besides, he personally thought Cynthia took her job as seriously as Jeremiah, the both of them needed to relax and take some time off for themselves, so he had no problems with leaving his best friend to her own devices.

Through the laboratory Nunnally was constantly by his side, she was rarely seen anywhere else lately, not that he all that much minded himself lately. Anya, despite regulations in such a secret government facility, was taking pictures left and right. The two scientists seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing, not even giving the indication they noticed. Anya seemed to have that effect on people, never seeming to be a threat, until someone put her behind the controls of a Knightmare. Jeremiah in his usual fashion, followed silently behind, only adding his own opinion when asked, but Lelouch could tell they'd be having quite the discussion once the visit was over.

The Lancelot was every bit the marvel it was rumored to be. The frame itself was only about half complete, as most of the project so far had been involved in the designing and testing phases, most would say that the time and money in which was going into the project was a waste, but the Lancelot would be a marvel of both aerodynamics and maneuverability. Britannia was the current leader of the world in its technology department, and it intended to stay as such. Half the things explained to him Lelouch didn't even understand, but it didn't take a genius to know the Lancelot would be monument for future Knightmares for years to come.

All in all, he had to admit his brother's project a complete success if everything went to plan, and he was looking forward to seeing it in the field. They met up with Cynthia and Mariel again afterwards, their mutual friend looking as if her Christmas had come early, no doubt this place was a technological paradise in the girl's eyes, but she had made her decision with no regrets. Lelouch had his own reunion with Mariel, and after introducing his sister and Anya as none of them had met face-to-face, and promising to visit again soon, Lelouch and his entourage headed back to base.

Unfortunately, the visit would be one of his highlights of his stay, as Sub-Viceroy to his brother, the duty came with a mountain load of paperwork, and the Black Prince found himself on repeated late nights trying to complete it all. Luckily, it wasn't all a chore, as his venture to the country also allowed him to visit his oldest friend in the form of Milly Ashford.

The Ashford heir oddly hadn't changed much in the years since they'd last spoken; she was still very much the tease she had always been. The girl had a heyday when she saw the group of women that followed the Black Prince, and he knew it was probably something he'd never be truly able to live down. But he was glad for her distraction from his duties all the same. As student president she also introduced him to the other members of the student council, although they had to do it in disguise so the prince and princess weren't swarmed by the students of the school. Lelouch had enough experiences with fan girls back home.

Aside from personal matters his time was also spend viewing many of the attractions Clovis was responsible for since he had seized control, and while visually impressive, they just left further questions as to why such a prosperous country had one of lowest income rates for the empire, outside of the Sakuradite mines.

One didn't have to look far though, just outside of the Tokyo Settlement lay the Shinjuku ruins, a memorial to the old war. The state in which the Elevens lived in only gave testament to the reasons behind terrorist activities that took place in the country, yet another one of his many responsibilities now thanks to his brother's negligence. He was known among the nobility as someone with fine tastes in art, clothing, and women. But his experiences as Viceroy was severely lacking, his popularity with the common man was one of the lowest known, and it somewhat scared Lelouch what his brother would do stay in favor of their father.

The following month was a set schedule of repeating events for the older vi Britannia, the Camelot project, his assistance to his brother as Sub-Viceroy, and the overseeing of his troops in anti-terrorist actions. And it didn't take long for him to recognize and welcome the assistance of his sister. Their friends helped where they could, but as knights they could offer little more than suggestions and military assistance. His never-ending agenda was broken only by a few of his brother's many held parties, outings with his sister and friends, and the few moments he received to just sit back and relax to think about his role in life.

On another seemingly normal day his schedule was broken by another of his meetings with his brother, the difference this time being the serious tone in with which his brother had informed him. Clovis was lax about all things, unless it involved terrible news or his reputation was at risk. So it was with a heavy sense of foreboding that he and Nunnally entered their brother's office.

Little did they know that this visit would answer Lelouch question of their brother's loyalties.

––––––

**January 17, 2016 a.t.b. - 10:41 Hours**

––––––

"Command of the Ashfordshire Division will be transferred to myself until a better commander can be chosen."

"What? You can't do that Clovis!"

"I have no choice, Lelouch, it's an order from father. Those men of yours have the skills comparable to that of Special Forces and are needed elsewhere. As such he has ordered that property of Britannia be transferred to someone else, someone more…loyal to the empire."

As a commander, there was no greater act of betrayal than to take away the men he led. The men he fought, sweat, and bled. It was only that much greater considering the fact that it had been _he_ that had struggled to give his men the reputation they deserved, not his _father_. The only time he could remember feeling more betrayed was directly after his mother's death and his father's disregard of it. To add insult to injury, Clovis had just called his men nothing more than _property_! And to sum it all up, his father had just indirectly accused him of treason, even if it wasn't a well-hidden secret of his less than supportive attitude regarding the Emperor.

Besides, he wasn't blind to his father's true intention, he'd become a bit too influential lately, too powerful. And as someone who opposed their father's decisions and the Darwinist stature of their government he didn't find it all that surprising that his father had seen it fit to cut him down. He was just surprised that it was their brother to be the one to do it. He had hoped he would see past their father and see the man for what he truly was, a tyrant, a manipulator, anything but the father he should have been.

"Clovis," he warned, "If you go through with this, then I _will_ be your enemy. I hope you know what you're doing."

"That's fine, Lelouch," Clovis answered with a noticeable grimace, "We'll find someone else to watch over Nunnally."

Seeing her brother's eyes flare and his fists clench, the younger vi Britannia sibling decided to intervene before this got physical.

"No, Clovis," she refused, "My only place is with Lulu, if you choose to become his enemy, then you will be mine as well. Do you really have to do this?" The last part she had dropped her cold demeanor and had all but begged. Nunnally was far more sensitive and loving of her siblings than Lelouch had ever been, it was a comfort to him both to know of his sister's dedication by his side and that war had not taken away her soft nature. He'd find it hard to continue anything without her.

"I'm sorry, Nunnally, but I have no choice in the matter," and suddenly Clovis seemed so much weaker than before.

"No Clovis, you always have a choice, always," Clovis remained silent as he slouched in his chair, and that hurt Nunnally more than if he had started yelling at her and accusing her of acting against their father.

That didn't stop Lelouch from standing from his chair and leaving the room, Nunnally stayed a moment to give her half-brother one last chance and seeing he wasn't going to change his condition, followed after her true brother. The siblings walked together for several minutes until they found a room in the palace away from spying eyes to be alone for a moment. Inside Nunnally promptly broke down into a sob, immediately seeking her brother for comfort, unable to remain strong any longer.

Lelouch stood, holding on to his little sister, rubbing her back as a sign of support. He too, had his own conflicting emotions on the subject, but there was one thing he was sure of as a determined look entered his eyes that had only been seen when he was about to enter a war. _'Clovis,'_ he thought bitterly as he looked down at his sister, _'You _will_ pay for making Nunnally cry.'_

––––––

After the Third Prince's betrayal, news of several events spread. The Black Prince's knights had disappeared without a trace after the missing prince and princess. Their division disbanded, most members fitting into the public, which wasn't hard considering all of them were commoners to begin with, their records were still in the stages of being processed in the transfer and as such they could not be identified, being spread throughout multiple bases suddenly became an advantage and with the terrorist threats and the sudden drop in numbers Clovis couldn't spare the men to locate almost 15,000 men. The ones that stayed behind did so with the mindset of joining their lord at the sign of his return, and decided they'd be more useful if they could join their liege with just as much strength as he had left them with.

Although he didn't know it, Lelouch had been successful in one of his goals; his men remained loyal to their prince, _their commander_, not to the very guy who took him out of position in the first place, and certainly not Britannia. And so Clovis was left with one of his greatest regrets in life, he'd lost two of his most beloved siblings, and what did he have to show for it, less than 200 men of the original force he had done it for. Father was disappointed indeed, and if Clovis only knew the full consequences of his actions. In the end he didn't want to report the full idiocy of his actions and risk enraging a certain "Witch of Britannia", and as such on January 31, 2016 a.t.b, two weeks after their disappearance Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia were declared dead, having been killed in a surprise terrorist assault.

But what really happened to Lelouch and his knights? Well, after their defection, Lelouch and Nunnally retreated and took refuge with the Ashfords and their school under the guise of new students. Milly had only been thrilled at the news, and as such invited the both of them into the student council, to which the two accepted. The added support of already knowing its members a welcomed privilege, and the whole group agreed to keep the two's existence a secret, especially from anyone who might recognize them, but that didn't stop the questions of why a prince and princess were hiding from their own country.

Cynthia and Anya had followed, the second unknowingly changing her future as a Knight of the Round forever. Cynthia had unsurprisingly joined the science club, and no one had really expected Anya to join the photography club, but then again she did seem to have quite the habit with that camera phone of hers.

The two had similar reactions to Lelouch and Nunnally's choice to rebel. While Anya was silent and took her usual approach of staying out of other's business, when she'd followed after them she had only stated that it was her duty as Nunnally's knight, the ceremony having taken place only a week before Clovis's revelation. Cynthia just said she was Lelouch's knight and as such her place was with him wherever he went. But in all honesty, if you were one of the sibling's knights, you were the knight of them both, and not just in the sense that the two were rarely seen apart, the two of them knew this.

Unfortunately, the soldiers weren't the only thing Britannia had claimed. It took all four of them, including Jeremiah, to hold Cynthia off the unfortunate aid who had given her the message that her custom Sutherlands were being sent elsewhere. None of them could ever claim to have seen the girl angry, and after that experience they all agreed they never did again. It scared them to think what she might do in a Knightmare in that kind of state. Women scorned and all that.

Fortunately, her positive attitude came back soon after as she decided that if nothing else, she got to start from scratch. And from the plans that still irregularly came from Mariel every few months or so, it looked like she would have had to do so anyway. One of the council members, Nina Einstein, Cynthia found a kindred spirit in, and the girls would spend hours over a computer screen working on something. They wouldn't say what, but Nina's new interest in her current project would unknowingly lead her away from her original project of the most destructive weapon in existence. And so, the unknown threat of FLEIJA was avoided before it was even started.

Jeremiah joined a group of loyalists called the Purist faction. And while they all questioned his choice, they never saw him, and therefore had to guess he had his own plans. After all, if Jeremiah was nothing else, he was loyal to his prince and princess to the end.

The next year they spent undercover, staying out of site and out of mind of Britannia. Lelouch and Nunnally had taken their mother's maiden name, Lamperouge. Cynthia had taken her mother's name, Marguerite. And Anya had stayed with her name Alstreim, theorizing that she wasn't as well known among the populace since she'd never officially become a knight or joined the royal family until a week before their disappearance. The fact that it was a lonely ceremony, the only participants being Lelouch, his knights, Nunnally, and Clovis only helped. And her guess had proved right, for when she was introduced into the school on the first day, no one had spared her a second glance, finding the brunette girl next to her much more attractive, not to mention approachable, until they met her brother that is.

For some reason Clovis never looked for them, and by the time he might have it was far too late. They spent the time preparing, silently communicating through letters with the lead officers of their own unit, willing to wait the years, maybe decades before they could start their revolution against their mother country. For there was no doubt in either of their minds that the next time they fought, it would be on the opposite side of the battlefield. Lelouch and Nunnally had even surprised their friends when they had revealed some of the connections they had made during their brief trip to Japan all those years ago. They still remained silent though, deciding that the contacts wouldn't be needed until the time was right. Fortunately, thanks to one unexpected encounter, they wouldn't have to wait long.

––––––

**March 4, 2017 a.t.b. - 15:02 Hours**

––––––

The attractive brunette continually paced in the council room's foyer, a large room they'd typically use for Academy-related parties. A Japanese maid stood in the corner dusting a table, alert in case her charge needed anything. Her best friend for several years now, Anya Alstreim, watched on in the background, disinterested as she stared down at the screen of her phone.

Sayoko, the maid behind her, had been a huge help to them since the Ashfords assigned her to them and had achieved at getting close to both Lamperouge siblings. She continued to surprise them as they got to know her even to this day; it had been a surprise to them all when she had revealed herself as a ninja who had spent years learning the crafts of her ancestors. The question of why she had resigned herself to housework, and for Britannians no less, left a question in all of their minds, but besides Milly, she was probably the only one they had come to fully trust since their meeting with Clovis more than a year ago.

Some would say they were trusting her a little soon, especially after what happened with their brother and the rest of their family. But there was just something about her that said her intentions were honest, slipping past Lelouch's recently built defenses. The elder Lamperouge had slipped into a bit of a shell since Clovis. Before he'd been open to just about anyone who wasn't undyingly loyal to his father or an arrogant member of the government, but afterwards he realized just how easy he had made it to slip past him, and it had resulted in him pushing away anyone who he didn't previously consider a friend. Nunnally wouldn't say it to his face, but her brother had become… darker since then, and the change scared her. She didn't know why one event changed him so much. She had a feeling that the change had been slowly progressing since the death of their mother, but that was just speculation. All she knew for sure Clovis had hurt him when he chose their father over them.

But while he slowly pushed others away, her relationship with her brother had grown closer than she thought possible, he being the only family she had left, and vice-versa. He was the light of her world, her eternal inspiration, and she trained if for no other reason than with the intention to keep him safe.

Despite their leaving the military, that didn't mean they had forgotten the habits with which they had learned at the Academy from what seemed decades ago. Sayoko had actually been a huge help in that regard. They'd learned quite a few self-defense moves from her, and Lelouch actually organized personal sparring matches to which both took enjoyment in, his reasons for getting stronger not being much farther off than her own, his just involved more people, specifically speaking, girls.

They'd had quite the laugh at hearing some of the rumors that spread among the student body concerning Lelouch and his knights, many of the guys were jealous that the new kid seemed to garner the attention of most of the female body in some way. Apparently cold and mysterious was in this time of season. Quite a few of the rumors, Nunnally was sure, was started by their own gossip queen, Milly. Added that her approach at gaining information usually involved a running gag of having half the student body chasing after her brother, the student council members all feared and respected the older girl. Luckily her brother was never hurt in any of the president's schemes, as Lelouch surprised them all, well except her, Cynthia, and Anya, when the thought-to-be-unathletic teen had not just outran the lot of them, but used the skills he'd learned from Sayoko to avoid them all day long, yet still remaining in their company. How he accomplished it all, not even she could answer.

Today he was supposed to take them all shopping, and currently, he was almost late. She grinned inwardly at the thought that the only reason why Lelouch probably had anything more than his uniform to wear was the effect of being surrounded by so many women. He'd informed her Rivalz had scheduled a game earlier that morning, as the two told each other everything, even their darkest of secrets, and that he would be there in time. None of his female friends all that much approved or didn't care of his gambling habits, but those who knew the real him were aware it was his way of pursuing his love for strategy. It was for that reason she let it slide, but that didn't excuse him for being late.

"He's late," Anya stated in her usual emotionless tone behind her, but Nunnally could detect the slight tone of annoyance after spending so much time with her. Meanwhile, Sayoko left to attend to other duties.

"Not quite, he still has three minutes, just give him a bit more time, okay," Nunnally tried to reason, to which the pink-haired girl just shrugged.

"Miss Nunnally, your brother is here," Sayoko announced from the hallway.

"See," she grinned, "Right on time."

Anya just responded by rolling her eyes, although no one noticed the unusual show of emotion. She was becoming softer lately, less distant, and she only needed two guesses to choose who was responsible. The Lamperouge siblings had done more than she could ask for, being her friends from all the way when she and Nunnally first met when she was just a young apprentice. She would never admit such weakness to anyone though, even her princess. She did a title to uphold.

"Nunnally! Anya! Get out here. Everyone's waiting in the Taxi," they could hear Lelouch yelling from outside the lobby.

"Coming Lulu," Nunnally called back. Anya followed after her as they headed to the exit.

––––––

The ride to the shopping district was a short one. And before even reaching the first shop Lelouch found himself flanked on all sides by the five women, no doubt Milly's way of keeping him from escaping from the horrors of what men knew as the "shopping spree". She had volunteered him as the one to finance this little trip, and it had only taken a little pushing from his sister to get him to agree, Nunnally really was his ultimate weakness. He had a feeling the real victim of this trip though would be his wallet, which no doubt would have a hole burned through it by the end of the day.

As the boxes rose higher and higher, and the hole in his wallet grew larger and larger, Lelouch was suddenly very glad for all that physical conditioning the military had put him through. And as the shopping continued with no end in sight, he eventually went into autopilot as they entered yet another clothing store, his thoughts taking him into the subject of his friends.

Most people would find it suspicious if a guy commented his four closest friends were all female, but that's how it was for him. Nunnally had grown into an amazingly attractive woman at such a young

age, her royal blood showing up through puberty. There was no doubt that if she wasn't so close and attentive to himself and she wasn't known for having an overprotective brother with a sister complex, she'd be one of the most popular girls in school, and yet she still was in many ways.

Since turning their backs on their family, they'd turned to each other for support; he remarked dryly that she could pass as his older sister at times whenever she would scold him for his activities, namely gambling. He'd joke that she'd make quite the mother one day. But he knew she loved him as much as he did her, and that was just one of her ways she showed her worry for him.

Anya hadn't really changed much in the past year, she was still as emotionless as ever, she still took photos with her phone of nearly everything, she had probably taken close to 50 photos since they entered the mall barely two hours ago. It had actually been their relationship that had changed, it seemed...closer. Or at least compared to what it had been.

He actually had conversations with her that involved more than just a curt response. He found that if he paid enough attention to her eyes he could actually read her emotions. And it was after a certain night that their relationship had any noticeable changes to it...

––––––

**Flashback - October 10, 2016 a.t.b.**

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_Lelouch sat up awake from his bed in a cold sweat, the only thing disturbing the silence being his heavy breathing. He rubbed his eyes as he woke up and attempted to calm his nerves, failing miserably at the second._

_It had been a nightmare, one he'd been having for as long as he could remember, encompassing his darkest fear. For to lose Nunnally, Euphie, Cynthia, and everyone else just as he had his mother was a life he feared above all else. If someone were to describe him as someone with no regard for his own life they'd be partially right. He would risk his life for his friends in an instant, but they wouldn't want that, Nunnally had made sure to stress that and that the feelings were mutual. Besides, he still had a war to plan, promises to keep, because he _would _take down his father._

_Seeing as he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep tonight as he was, he decided to resign himself to what he usually did on nights he couldn't sleep. And with that thought in mind he headed up to the school roof._

_Since their time at the Military Academy, their days of stargazing had ended. But that didn't really apply to himself, he still found it soothing to head up to the roof on nights like these. The cool, midnight air was a common medicine for any troubles he might have. The sight of the night sky and the memories it brought just adding to the stress relief. In short, it was a place he could always be alone, to think, to plan, to remember..._

_So he was caught by surprise as he found he wasn't the only one on the roof. Getting a better look at his companion he was intrigued to find it was no other than Anya._

_"Anya?"_

_From the tense stance she just took, he'd be willing to guess she hadn't been expecting anyone either. She relaxed though after her initial reaction. With her back turned to him though, he couldn't read anything else about her._

_Well, he was already awake; it wouldn't hurt to have some company. Walking over to the pink-haired girl he sat down next to her, his back against the railing and facing the other direction as she. Looking up at the night sky he remembered the many nights their team spent in silence such as this, one of his fonder memories, if he were to be asked._

_"Hey, Anya, has it really been that long since the last time we did this?" he reminisced, trying to relive one of the more peaceful times of his life._

_As she turned around to face him, he quickly took note of her expression wrapped in a mixture of confusion and resolve. Something was bothering her, enough so that she was letting her emotions show. Instinctively, his own response was his relaxed posture took a more serious note, as did his facial features. Eventually she sighed, and looked down at him, and he was bothered by the almost... hollow look in her eyes._

_"No," she answered, "I don't."_

_"Excuse me," Lelouch responded, that hadn't been what he was expecting._

_"I don't remember," she continued, "You talk about things I don't remember happening, I remember things I know I never saw. Remember? Remember what? Memory? What memory? I have no memory."_

_And to that Lelouch had no response. The next few moments the two were wrapped in silence, Anya continuing to try and regain something of her past and Lelouch trying to figure out what just happened._

_"Is that why you're updating that blog of yours all the time?" he broke the silence, "Because you can't tell what memories belong to you or not."_

_"Yes, it is," and to emphasis the fact she used that moment to take a picture of him with her phone. "Why are you here?" she asked, turning the attention away from herself._

_He grimaced, the memories of his dream returning, "Nothing but a nightmare, don't worry about it."_

"_Want to talk about it?" he was taken back, Anya was never one to pry someone else's affairs, she lived by the policy of leaving other people alone and they would do so in return. That coupled to the fact that her face actually seemed _concerned_ hit him by just how much this memory business bothered her._

"_Sure, why not?" It's not like it could hurt, could it. He trusted her, fighting alongside someone for so long did that to you._

_The next hour they spent just… talking. For once Anya actually talked about herself, not extensively, she never was one to say much, but he got more out of her in that time that the rest of the time he knew her. Her memory had begun behaving oddly around six years ago, just about the same time as his mother's assassination, and he couldn't help but think the two events were related. The suspicion only tightened when she informed him that she'd been in the area thanks to her apprenticeship at the time._

_He found that he was doing most of the talking though; retelling his nightmare of losing everything he cared for. He explained his deep fear of how his efforts would be pointless if they ended in death, and they both knew he wasn't talking about himself. It was something that haunted him ever since his mother's death and how the seemingly invincible Marianne the Flash had been killed so effortlessly. It just emphasized to him how easily death could come, that you were never, truly, invincible._

_If someone were to stumble on to them in that moment, they would find two friends sitting in the center of the roof, backs to each other and staring up at the night sky as they shared their stories._

"_Don't tell Nunnally," Anya spoke after a brief silence had arose in their conversation._

_Lelouch chuckled at the girl's concern, his little sister would go mad if she knew her best friend was suffering from such problems. "I won't, I don't want to imagine what she'd do if she found out." And with that, the comfortable silence overtook their conversation for what felt like the hundredth time._

"_Hey Anya, I promise," Lelouch interrupted the silence between them once again. "I promise that I'll get your memories back. Whatever it is that's doing this to you, I promise I'll find it. We'll get through this together, alright?"_

_And for the first time, Anya felt the power and assurance behind Lelouch's promises._

––––––

Ever since then he noticed Anya's differences. She seemed to be staying in his company more often than she used to, and she wasn't glued to Nunnally's side either, although she still followed her around most everywhere. But he had to admit he didn't mind the increased attention all that much.

At first he thought it was her way of making sure he didn't inform his sister of anything, after all, it was the first and only secret he kept from his sister, but after a while he just seemed to come to accept that it was just another part of their relationship that had gotten closer.

Cynthia was usually found looking over plans given to them by Mariel or working on the Ashford Ganymede, which unfortunately she couldn't do much with since it was a Knightmare used for school activities, not war. He still heard her cursing the idiot who had taken her original creations away, and he had no doubt that if they ever found out who the man was who had given the order, he'd be found in dead in the gutter by next morning.

The only other thing she could usually be found doing was leaning over a computer screen, doing… well actually, he didn't know what she was doing. All he was certain of was it was some kind of custom Knightmare she was working on. She was keeping everything under lock and key, and even if he did get a look at what she was working on he doubted he would understand any of it without her to explain anyway.

Outside of her "zone", Cynthia didn't fit into the stereotype of isolation that physicists and technicians were usually associated with. She loved science and working with computers, but she knew when to give such things a break and to take it easy from time to time. Well, maybe it involved a little coaxing from he and his sister, but they generally ignored that little detail. He personally found that a person's best ideas usually came to them when they were relaxing and weren't even thinking of their project.

Cynthia herself had matured nicely since the years at the Academy, something that Milly actively took advantage of to the embarrassment of both her and at times, even himself. Their relationship actually hadn't changed much unlike the others, they had already been incredibly close before, or at least as close as he was willing to get to someone else at the moment, and there really wasn't much to change. Although she seemed to be more possessive of him lately, like Nunnally and Anya, you could rarely find the Lamperouge brother without his knight close behind.

The newest member of their little team, Shirley Fenette, was arguably the most normal of their group, while he didn't consider her anywhere as close to him as the others, he did regard her as a friend, and besides Milly and his sister, was probably the member of the student council he was willing to admit he was most attached to. She was also Milly's favorite subject of teasing though, and even Lelouch had to admit that some of her reactions to the elder blonde's games were quite humorous at times.

Then there was Milly Ashford, what an enigma she was. While certainly eccentric when they were young, the progression of puberty had seemed to only strengthen that trait of hers. She was the type to flirt with everyone, male and female alike, yet at the same time date no one, well except those idiots her parents tried to hook her up with in a desperate attempt to regain their nobility. But then again, he wouldn't necessarily call a set of planned events that led to physical pain of the male participant a date; you'd think her parents would have learned after the first fifty times. She was also as beautiful as she was renowned untouchable, although on a personal note, thanks to a few _accidents_ he was sure she'd staged, he didn't exactly have trouble with the second.

She was the only person, outside of Sayoko, not original a member of his inner circle who he trusted completely. One of the few good people in this world, he knew her intentions were honest. If someone were to pay close attention to the rumors she started, they were embarrassing at most, none of them were actually meant to damage a person's reputation or credit. She was also incredibly smart, not to the point of himself or some of his siblings, but she was incredibly perceptive, and was often more aware of what went on around her than she let on.

Yes, he had quite the little group of friends.

"Hey Lulu!" looks like he got too absorbed into his thoughts... again. They just exited another shoe store he noticed, and he feared he'd have to do a _lot _of gambling after this to regain his funds.

"Yes, Milly?" he asked, knowing he was going to regret this.

"Are you telling me you'd rather be caught up in your thoughts rather than pay attention to five beautiful women. Unless…" Milly smirked, something that never ended well for anyone, and only confirmed Lelouch's earlier suspicions, "Is Lulu finally recognizing the beauty around him, maybe in a group orgy?"

That got a universal blush on all of their faces, and a "Madam President!" from Shirley, whose face was as red as her hair in that moment. Quickly followed by her putting her hands around the student council president's mouth in an attempt to stop her, not like that would ever work.

And as Milly turned the tables and Shirley suddenly found herself in an embarrassing position with the older girl, in public, Lelouch only rolled his eyes at the display.

Yep, an interesting choice of friends he had indeed…

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**March 6, 2017 a.t.b. - 11:25 Hours**

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"Remind me again why I let you two convince me into doing this?" Lelouch asked as the motorcycle slowed to a stop at a traffic light. When he had intended to meet Rivalz for their usual match, he instead had found his sister leaning against the motorcycle, trying to look all too innocent. Currently, Nunnally was seated behind him, arms wrapped around his waist, while Cynthia rode in the side car.

"Because," Nunnally responded, and he could almost _feel_ the smug look on her face, "I'm your beloved sister who you love and Cynthia's your best friend."

He sometimes cursed his weakness. He could never say no to his little sister, and the worst part was she _knew_ it. He couldn't help it as he smiled though; it wasn't like it truly bothered him to spend a day with her, and it didn't take much to admit that the company of two girls beat Rivalz any day. Cynthia had accompanied when she'd stumbled across them as they were preparing to leave and even though she had invited herself, neither of them could find it in themselves to care. In the end, all they did is sit and watch through the game, and he couldn't hide the smirk when his opening move had even gotten his sister to raise an eyebrow.

"And you're doing this because…?" he continued, pausing as he waited for an answer.

"Because we've been working hard at school all week and wanted to spend some time with you," she answered with little hesitancy.

"And you got Rivalz's permission to do this _when_ exactly?" he asked, this time out of true curiosity. It was no secret that the bike was the blue-haired teen's pride and joy. He rarely let Lelouch drive it as it was, and the former prince didn't want to imagine what would happen in the case that something happened.

"It wasn't too hard, all I did was ask," the sweet tone his sister's tone suddenly took made him wonder what the girl meant. He shook it off quickly though, it wasn't just him that had trouble refusing her. It was probably better not to know. His interrogation ended after that, she'd probably thought all these questions through already, she was no idiot, and so he decided to shut up before he dug his grave any deeper.

Their drive continued for several minutes before their radio broadcast was interrupted by recent news. A terrorist attack on Osaka had left 59 dead, only 8 of whom were Britannian citizens. The announcement was then followed by a message from Clovis about his personal pain and "heartbreak" at the news of the event, the loss of Britannian lives (conveniently forgetting to mention the 51 others) and the retribution that would be brought on those responsible, Lelouch just scoffed at the lies.

"Brother? Is what we're doing right?" Nunnally asked after their brother's message, he dully noted her voice had loss the playful nature from before to be replaced with a far more solemn note. She continued, "Waging war with Britannia I mean, wouldn't we be hurting people instead?"

"Nunnally, give me a second," Lelouch responded as he veered off the main road and onto some side streets. Eventually the trio found themselves just outside the Shinjuku Ghetto. The desolate skyscrapers on the horizon could be seen from just about anywhere in the Tokyo Settlement, a sad reminder of the past. They all shivered at the sight of the streets that quite literally appeared dead.

Satisfied that he'd illustrated his point, Lelouch answered, "Look around us Nunnally, and what do you see? Poverty, Disease, Famine, do you think they chose this? We should be helping them, not pushing them away. Leadership is a two-way street. Yes, your men serve you, but in return you do the same for them. Not only do we destroy their lives though, we strip them of their hope, and then continually degrade them by referring to them and their country as a mere number. It isn't right, and I can't just continually sit back and watch anymore."

"Clovis reminded me of many things. He decided he would rather choose father and stay in his good graces then support us. In doing so he made me realize how useless my original plan had been. We have to fight Britannia, not change it. I'll never get the chance to become the emperor and father just proved that to me by attempting to take away our men. Don't you see Nunnally, this is what he plans on doing every time we even have a slightly powerful unit under our commander, send our men off and replace them with new ones. It scares me to think who we might have become had mother not died and shown me who our father really is. Would we have grown up like our other siblings, thinking we're superior just because we're Britannians? Ignoring things like this around us."

She, of course, already knew this, her brother had long since explained his reasons to her, but sometimes she liked to hear what Lelouch had to say about his beliefs. The last thing she wanted her brother to suffer from was regret. Cynthia continually remained silent through this whole exchange between the siblings, finding it nice to just observe the two from time to time. Their relationship was something she found herself envious of on multiple occasions; the two covered each others weaknesses. Whenever one sibling lacked, the other would provide. So caught up in her thoughts in fact that she barely heard the truck approaching them from behind a little _too_ quickly, and a sickening realization struck her.

"Lulu, look out!"

As luck would have it, her warning came with enough time that he was able to avoid getting run over by the much larger vehicle. Unfortunately, to do so he had to make a wild swerve to the right, one that tipped the bike on its side and threw them off. Lelouch, out of instinct more than anything else, grabbed the two feminine bodies as they were all thrown, he could quite literally _feel_ the motorbike flip over them, almost clipping him in the leg. As he skidded the few feet he was thrown from the bike, he could feel his consciousness slipping, before he finally entered the calming darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

Author's Signoff: Not much happening this chapter, except a little fluff between Lelouch and his girls, and events happening in the year between Lelouch's transfer to Japan, and his meeting with our favorite witch. I've been wanting to write that scene with Anya for a while now, and the moments between him, Cynthia and Nunnally were actually just spurs of the moment more than anything else. Moments like these will generally be what I include until the real romance is involved, and honestly, I find a bonding moment between two friends a lot more heartwarming than a make-out session.

Some of you may be asking, "Why have him stay in Britannia if you were just going to start Code Geass from the beginning anyways?" The answer to that is preparation, Lelouch in the anime essentially started from scratch, absolutely nothing. The Lelouch in my story has connections, devoted friends, knights, _an army_. If these don't help him, I don't know what will. While not immediate advantages in his war, they'll definitely be playing their parts soon enough. And come on, who doesn't want his own personal army.

Hope I didn't mess up too badly with the transition from Lelouch vi Britannia to Lelouch Lamperouge. Lelouch needed an ultimate motive for wanting to destroy his father, and I feel the realization that no matter how far up the ladder he climbs, his father will just throw him back down serves as such. He needed a reminder of who his father really was. This is the action I see Charles taking, because I don't see him as being blind to Lelouch's intentions, and if I was going to follow a logical response it would either result in Lelouch's death or demotion, and I think we all prefer the latter.

I hope my summarization of events didn't seem to stale. Like the previous chapter it was a long period of time that I didn't want to explain through dialogue, this'll be the last chapter like this for a while though and none of my future time skips will last anything more than a month. But if any of it did seem to be a monologue, please comment so. The first four chapters were more of Lelouch's preparations before the events in Shinjuku.

See Ya!


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